Bank of America renews workforce grant for students looking to health care careers

Applying to medical school is never a breeze but Alexis Lona at least has some wind at his back, thanks to a just-renewed program to support San Diego State University students interested in careers in health care.

Just after he graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Lona spent a week shadowing a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente as part of Progresando en Salud,  a program funded with the support of Bank of America philanthropic capital, currently serving more than 200 SDSU students. Between visits to outpatients from just two days old to 17 years at multiple locations, Lona got a firsthand look at the everyday life of a doctor ― an invaluable pre-med opportunity ― as well as her views on health care as a career.

She wound up writing a valuable letter of recommendation for Lona to include in his med school applications.

“It was an amazing experience,” said Lona. “I was able to actually not just see patients with her but learn a little bit more about what it meant to be a doctor.”

“Shadowing her … showed me a lot of not just what you can do with medicine and what career options are available to me but what a doctor does day to day,” he added, “and how they can use their knowledge to help patients out.”

Bank of America initially awarded a  two-year grant of $250,000 for Progresando en Salud. The company recently awarded a new grant of $200,000 as part of its Neighborhood Builders program. 

“This generous Bank of America grant will significantly enhance our student success programs, empowering more Aztecs to achieve their dreams,” said Adrienne Vargas, vice president for University Relations and Development at SDSU. “We express our sincere gratitude to Bank of America for this crucial grant, which will have an immediate and positive effect.”

B of A’s initial grant “helped us to get started and to really figure out what was working and what had the largest impact on our students’ success,” said Emilio Ulloa, associate chief diversity officer for MSI Affairs. “So when the opportunity to apply for more  funding … came about, we were overjoyed.”

Focused support

Besides allowing his office to continue support for health care students who are still enrolled in the program, “it also allowed us to pivot and be more focused on the support services that we’ve figured out have the greatest impact on the students’ careers.”

For many students, Ulloa said, this turned out to be the professional development opportunities offered through Progresando en Salud. These include workshops around the health care industry and in-person and Zoom meetings with health care professionals.

“We are thrilled to help connect SDSU students to high demand health care careers,” said Pamela Gabriel, SVP, Market Executive, Bank of America San Diego. “As a part of the San Diego community for more than 100 years, Bank of America recognizes the importance of health-related fields to the region’s economy, to career mobility and the overall health of households.”

As Lona found, shadowing opportunities with physicians and other health care professionals turned out to have an especially positive impact on student success. They are typically a week long, scheduled over an academic break.

“It gives them such a focused and deep experience,” Ulloa said, “and an opportunity to ask questions, to really help them not only solidify their motivation and validate the choice that they made to enter into this career, but also to help them understand the things that they might need to continue to prepare for graduate school or other career opportunities.”

The program also provides specific certifications some students may need, such as training for emergency first aid and administering naloxone for opioid overdoses. For others, direct financial support to allow them to attend conferences for professional development or supplies needed in a lab class can help.

To make a gift to SDSU please contact Mary Darling, [email protected], 619-594-8299.