Urban Health Project: A Sustainable and Successful Community Internship Program for Medical Students

Background. Urban Health Project (UHP) is a mission and vision- driven sum- mer internship at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine that places first- year medical students at local community agencies that work with underserved populations. At the completion of their internship, students write Final Intern Reflections (FIRs). Methods . Final Intern Reflections written from 1987 to 2012 were read and coded to both predeter - mined categories derived from the UHP mission and vision statements and new categories created from the data themselves. Results. Comments relating to UHP's mission and vision were found in 47% and 36% of FIRs, respectively. Positive experiences outweighed negative by a factor of eight. Interns reported the following benefits: educational (53%), valuable (25%), rewarding (25%), new (10%), unique (6%), and life- changing (5%). Conclusions. Urban Health Project is successful in providing medical students with enriching experi- ences with underserved populations that have the potential to change their understanding of vulnerable populations.