Maintaining the SCORE URM Pipeline through the Pandemic

UCSF clinical faculty and allied health professional staff in the UCSF OR with SCORE 2020 students

We’re pleased to have hosted the 4th annual and 1st virtual Students Capturing the OR Experience (SCORE) program on February 19, 2021. A half-day pipeline program, SCORE exposes San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) URM high school students to various health sciences careers, in action, introduces students to mentors and role models, and provides students with hands-on experience and career planning resources. In the context of existing inequities in health care, education and employment opportunities for URM individuals and a second pandemic of racism, maintaining the Students Capturing the OR Experience (SCORE) program in spite of COVID-19 shelter-in-place guidelines was paramount this year. Charlene Blake, MD, PhD, who conceived of and leads the annual SCORE program, worked with the SCORE planning committee and others at UCSF to pivot to a completely virtual program for 2021, while maintaining a hands-on, interactive, and engaging experience for the SFUSD URM students. Working with UCSF Education Technology Services, the SCORE planning committee filmed a series of pre-recorded interviews with various UCSF allied health professional staff and faculty, set up a camera to capture specific roles in the OR, and incorporated a pre-recorded video of a neurosurgery, kindly provided by UCSF neurosurgeon, Dr. Sean Hervey-Jumper, into the virtual program. As always, the students were able to hear talks from UCSF URM leaders about their experiences and meet with UCSF clinical faculty and staff in small groups for closer mentorship and discussions. Stethoscopes, pulse oximeters and blood pressure cuffs were mailed to each student to aid with the interactive sessions. See the day’s program below.