Medical students from across New England—including Larner medical student Alison Yong ’28 (front row, 2nd from left)—participated in the inaugural Galen V. Henderson, M.D., Stimulate Equity, Education, and Diversity (SEED) Program of the New England Donor Services office near Boston, CT Insider reports.
The SEED program was hosted by New England Donor Services, the federally designated organ procurement organization for the area, at their Waltham, Massachusetts, office just outside of Boston.
Education around organ transplantation varies and is typically available to medical students later in their education after picking a specialization—but at the same time, the transplantation field is seeing a workforce shortage. The idea behind creating a specialized, intensive course was to expose medical students early in their schooling to the transplant field and the various roles available while also increasing awareness about inequities in donation and transplants.
The inaugural session, which ran from June to July, hosted seven students from across New England's medical schools—from Harvard to the University of Vermont.