Louisville college students take part in program created to attract more to medical field

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some local college students are getting a head start on the school year and their futures.

For the last two weeks, more than a dozen students at Simmons College of Kentucky have been part of a program created to educate and attract more of them to the medical field.

"I didn't know about the medical school until I actually started taking a class about Simmons, and I learned a lot," Asani Browning, a pre-med student, said. "I chose psychology because I wanted to get more into the mental health field, because I want to be a therapist."

For the last two weeks, more than 24 students have been delving into Simmons' historic roots and learning more about the medical field as part of the Health Catalyst Leadership Program.

"We're exposing them to a diverse group of individuals in the community physicians, healthcare providers," Kathy Washington, executive director of the program, said.

Washington said this is to introduce students again to the medical field and in addition to learning about potential careers, the students also got a chance to meet and talk to local healthcare professionals who look like them, like Dr. Jamaal Richie from UofL Health.

"Seeing these Black doctors and Black physicians and Black Zumba workers, I'm just like, this is amazing," Browning said.