This summer on Howard University’s campus, a group of high school-aged Black youth from the Washington D.C. area, Roanoke, VA, and New York City settled into a dorm and prepared to spend six weeks learning, serving, and bonding as part of a very special brotherhood.
While the program they are part of introduces these young men to careers in health and medicine, many will also pursue paths outside the medical field. What brought them all here is a vision that was set in motion 13 years ago.
Founded in 2012 in Washington, D.C., by Dr. Malcolm Woodland and Dr. Torian Easterling, the Young Doctors Project (YDP) was born out of a concern about health disparities in their communities, as well as a vested interest in mentoring young Black men.
The doctors understood the importance of having role models to show these youth pathways to futures they may have never considered.
“Did you know that the number one predictor of whether someone gets into medical school is if their parents are doctors? So for us, this program is about having someone in your corner who’s walked that walk,” said Woodland, , a licensed psychologist and graduate of Howard University
“When you have someone who has done it and can show you the pathway, life becomes so much easier. We want to expand that access for our young people and be a part of their community.”
Woodland was inspired to start the program after seeing how connected the children and youth in his Anacostia community were to their elders.
“I got to thinking, our greatest asset is these children that everybody loves and knows, right? What if we turn them into health ambassadors in their neighborhoods?” he questioned.
His mission: instead of a school-to-prison pipeline, Young Doctors is creating a pipeline to education, a pipeline to medicine, a pipeline for these young people to give back to the community. Medicine is the hook, but brotherhood and service are at the heart of the mission.
“I certainly know that we can put hundreds of millions of dollars into the juvenile legal system and the criminal justice system,” he continued. “I think that money would be much better spent on organizations like the Young Doctors Project, organizations that are out here doing the work.”
Supported by Howard University’s Department of Psychology and its Colleges of Dentistry and Medicine—along with other key partners—the program includes a six-week summer institute, Saturday academies during the school year, community health clinics led by YDP doctors, and college tours that expose students to medical schools and other educational pathways.
Kasein Tate, a graduating senior from D.C. who is headed to Morehouse College in Atlanta in the fall to fulfill his dream of becoming a cardiologist, joined the program in his freshman year of high school. His journey is a reflection of exactly what YDP was designed to do.
“I found out about the program when Dr. Woodland visited my school,” he told The Informer. “At the time, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do after high school. So I was like, medicine: that’s a good idea because I always liked science and math.”
Although Kasein joined the program, he was initially hesitant to open up to the other young men and mentors—something he attributes to lingering post-COVID anxiety. He credits the care, love, and support of everyone in the program with helping to bring him out of his shell and build his confidence.
That transformation came full circle on June 23 at the organization’s 13th Annual White Coat Ceremony, held at the Association of American Medical Colleges DC headquarters, where he was honored with the “Young Doc of the Year” Award—an accolade voted on by both his peers and mentors.
As YDP co-founder and director of education, Easterling said his commitment to the organization is renewed and deepened by what he sees during the White Coat Ceremony.
“The ceremony sells the program for everyone who comes. When we are donning the white coat on our Young Docs, folks see it. The students see it and are like ‘Oh wow. I’m going to sit up a little taller, my shoulders a bit higher,’” Easterling said.
“You see the parents as tears run down their faces,” Easterling told The Informer. “And then people will ask, ‘How do I get connected to the program? How can I be a part of it? I love what you all are doing.’”
As the program continues to build up the next generation of Black male health professionals and changemakers, Woodland said he still has major dreams for the Young Doctors Project.
“I want it to be an institution. I want it to be a true pipeline. I want it to operate without me when I’m long gone. I want there to be a Young Doctors Project in multiple cities,” Woodland said. “It’s about brotherhood. It’s about support. It’s about creating spaces for the safe intellectual development of Black boys.”
This story originally appeared here.