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SIU MedPrep director tells trustees program yields high completion and professional‑school placement but needs space and resources
Summary
MedPrep director Randy Burnside told the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees that the Carbondale MedPrep program has an 89% completion rate and that 82% of recent completers entered professional schools; trustees heard calls for more resources and a consolidated campus space. No action was taken because a quorum was not present.
Dr. Randy Burnside, director of the MedPrep preparatory program at the SIU School of Medicine, told the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees that MedPrep — founded in 1972 — focuses on socioeconomically and educationally disadvantaged and underrepresented students from central and southern Illinois and posts strong outcomes for participants.
"Over the history of MedPrep, there have been 1,731 students," Burnside said, and in a five‑year snapshot the program recorded an "89% completion rate" with "82% of these students entered medical, dental, or other professional schools." He told trustees that roughly 87% of program participants historically have been underrepresented in medicine and that the current gender split is about 62% female and 38% male.
Burnside outlined formal partnerships that give successful MedPrep students additional routes to professional school. He described a 1998 alliance with the SIU School of Medicine and a 2013 linkage with Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine that can provide interviews and scholarship opportunities for students who meet certain academic thresholds. He also noted an alliance established in 2021 with the SIU School of Dental Medicine and an agreement to support the university’s physician‑assistant program.
Student speakers told trustees how MedPrep changed their paths. "They were always available even after hours," said a first‑year student who credited MedPrep for academic support and access to care that helped him succeed. A second‑year student from Vanderbilt said the program provided "professionalism, and the personal growth" she had not received elsewhere and that MedPrep helped improve her MCAT performance and interview preparation.
Burnside also described community engagement and alumni outcomes. He said the MedPrep Club averages more than 200 volunteer hours per year and highlighted a student‑led "No Woman Forgotten" project that collected thousands of sanitary items for incarcerated women, distributed through the university’s correctional medicine office. On placement, he said that in a recent five‑year period 122 students completed MedPrep, 95 were accepted to medical or dental school, 70 met the School of Medicine alliance criteria and 48 of those 70 enrolled at SIU.
Trustees praised the program. One trustee recalled receiving advice when appointed in 2015: "Phil, I don't care what you do, but don't touch the MedPrep program," and thanked staff and students for their work. Burnside said the program faces resource constraints and visibility challenges because MedPrep offices and related pre‑health activities are spread across campus; he recommended creating a consolidated space to house pre‑health and MedPrep activities to improve recruitment and coordination.
Because fewer than five trustees were physically present, the board could not take formal action on any items. Trustees were invited to review materials and to continue supporting the program’s outreach and recruitment work.
