ASPIRE medical research program

[Text on screen: ASPIRE Medical Research Program]

[Music playing]

[Text on screen: Aaron Thomas
Program Manager,
ASPIRE Medical Research Program]

Aaron Thomas:
The ASPIRE Medical Research Program is a longitudinal experience that occurs over the course of three semesters for our undergraduate Ohio State students through the College of Medicine in the Physician Scientist Education Training Program. Our mission is to assist removing barriers for students who are looking for a pathway forward into an advanced degree in one of the health sciences.

[Text on screen: Alexandra Martinez-Mendez
2021 Cohort,
ASPIRE Medical Research Program]

Alexandra Martinez-Mendez:
My parents were both immigrants, neither of which had the opportunity to go to school, so I'm actually the first person in my family to graduate high school. So navigating higher education was really challenging, and especially figuring out what it meant to pursue my dream of being a doctor.

[Text on screen: Devante Barnes
2023 Cohort,
ASPIRE Medical Research Program]

Devante Barnes:
ASPIRE was a safe place to fail. It was a safe place to get back up and then fall again. You're going to go into the program and you're going to be embraced, you're going to be valued. And when you fall, you're going to be picked right back up. And at the end of the day, no matter what you decide to do, you'll be a better person for it.

[Text on screen: Amy Dokiburra
2022 Cohort,
ASPIRE Medical Research Program]

Amy Dokiburra:
Before I joined ASPIRE, I was a freshman in college, I was studying biomedical engineering. But I didn't really know if that was the career that I wanted to go into. It was only after I started the ASPIRE Medical Research Program that I discovered my passion for neuroscience and neuroimmunology.

[Text on screen: Mel Izem
2023 Cohort,
ASPIRE Medical Research Program]

Mel Izem:
There are research programs that allow you to do a couple months of research, or there's programs that allow you to shadow, but there's very few programs that I think do both simultaneously on top of having this very strong sense of community. And that's why I think ASPIRE is truly one of one in that sense.

Devante Barnes:
My experience with ASPIRE's medical research program has been phenomenal. Nothing short of transformative.

Amy Dokiburra:
All you have to do is show up and ASPIRE is there to guide us towards our dreams.

Alexandra Martinez-Mendez:
ASPIRE has been a part of my journey every step of the way. Even applying to medical school and navigating the application process, it was the ASPIRE community, ASPIRE alumni, and the faculty and staff that really helped me understand how this process works and get me to where I needed to be.

[Text on screen: The Ohio State University College of Medicine
medicine.osu.edu]

[Music fades]