The BIOME program’s mission is to provide undergraduate students at Harvard College with the opportunity to shadow healthcare practitioners and interact with health workers from a variety of fields, including health policy workers and researchers, in the New York and Boston area during Harvard College’s winter J-term. Through structured discussion and reflection with tutors, medical students, medical leaders, and each other, we hope that students will create a clearer and more open-minded vision of their preparation for and future service in medicine.
By providing undergraduates with an intensive shadowing experience, we hope to
Make medicine more accessible to people from a variety of backgrounds
Showcase the diversity possible in medicine in both background, path, and career benchmarks/goals
Give students with few shadowing opportunities exposure to the medical field to even the playing field for those from more underrepresented and underprivileged backgrounds
Build a community of researchers/scientists/pre medical students alike to share their experiences and network with their peers - networking and building friendships with those that share passion for medicine and interest for premedical careers