Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program (HPREP)

The Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program (HPREP) is an academically challenging enrichment program that offers minority and underrepresented high school students a glimpse of education and career opportunities in health care professions.

Taught by UT Southwestern medical, graduate, and allied health students, faculty, and staff from diverse cultural backgrounds, HPREP helps high school students to understand the level of commitment needed to pursue a future in science and medicine.

The program begins with career day, during which parents and student are able to learn about various health careers and visit with health professionals, and concludes with College Day, where students meet recruiters at a college fair. In the 21 years since its inception, HPREP has included sessions such as:

  • Preparing for College: College 101 
  • College Admissions and Financial Aid
  • College Financial Aid preparation
  • Occupations in medicine
  • Tours of UT Southwestern Medical School Facilities
  • Using the Medical School Library
  • Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
  • Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
  • Blood Typing
  • Prosthetics and Orthotics 
  • Teen Sexuality and Teen Violence  presentation
  • Disease Prevalence:  Social Class and Race Disparities 
  • Sexually Transmitted Infections presentation

Students from local high schools who are interested in medicine, allied health careers, or science are encouraged to fill out an online application to attend the program, which runs every Saturday for five weeks in January and February. Application deadline is December 17, 2012.

Successful Program Completion is accomplished by:

  • Attending at least three of the five Saturday sessions
  • Completing a mock college application and personal statement
  • Completing an essay on an assigned topic
Selected students will also receive recognition for outstanding essays written during the HPREP program. Upon successful completion of the HPREP program, all participants receive certificates and a program T-shirt.
 

The final day of HPREP (February 2, 2013) will include a special recognition luncheon to which parents/guardians will be invited.