ADVISORY

NIH professional to give perspective, support to students seeking successful medical careers

Speech:
Thursday (March 27), 10:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Pleasants Family Assembly Room
Louis Round Wilson Library

Job fair:
Thursday (March 27), noon to 2 p.m.
Carmichael Auditorium

Dr. Kay Johnson-Graham, director of minority student programs at the National Institutes of Health, will be the Inspirational Speaker in Science Lecturer for the 2003 Health Professions Forum hosted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s N.C. Health Careers Access Program.

Using anecdotes and examples from her family, Johnson-Graham will speak at 10:45 a.m. Thursday (March 27) to about 150 undergraduates on "Ph.D.s Plowing the Cotton Fields: Lessons Learned."

Johnson-Graham is expected to tell students that professional success is very much within reach, despite obstacles. Students will learn how to navigate the path to the career of their choice without shying away from challenges they will face. She will take questions for 15 minutes following the lecture.

Johnson-Graham also serves as minority outreach coordinator and equal employment opportunity officer for the NIH. She focuses on educating communities and providing support for minority students to pursue research and other health professions. Recently, Johnson-Graham has worked to create an initiative to train minority nurses in health disparities research, as well as establish an agreement between Howard University and the NIH whose goal, among others, is to increase research opportunities for minority students.

The forum’s morning session at Wilson Library will include a 9 a.m. panel discussion with graduate and professional students from UNC’s health professional schools. From noon to 2 p.m., attendees will participate in a recruitment and career fair sponsored by the UNC department of allied health sciences.

Partial funding for the event is provided by the N.C. Area Health Education Centers Program, based at UNC, and the health careers opportunity program affiliated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Disadvantaged Assistance.

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N.C. Health Careers Access Program contact: Renee King, (919) 966-2264