In collaboration with Cornell’s Center for Health Equity and Weill Cornell Medicine’s Diversity Center of Excellence, the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine has created and seed funded The Weill Cornell Medicine Pipeline Program and Partnership with Historical Black Medical Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.

Originally conceived as a research collaboration around our NIH funded T32 training program, the program has now expanded to include robust clinical training initiatives and mentorship opportunities for learners from high school to junior faculty members, including medical residents and fellows, with demonstrated interest in Geriatric and Palliative Medicine. Thus far, partner institutions include:

• University of Texas Medicine John Sealy School of Medicine
• City of New York Hunter College

The program aims to develop a repository of partner-wide Geriatric and Palliative medical training opportunities for recruitment of learners underrepresented in biomedical research and from disadvantaged backgrounds as defined by the National Institute of Health.¹

Some of the current and anticipated activities of the Pipeline Program include:

• Recruitment of diverse candidates into our T32 training program
• Return of those trainees to their home institution with ongoing NIH collaborations
• Recruitment of learners at all levels into our clinical residencies, fellowship, and faculty
• Subsidized electives for trainees at all levels for residents and medical students
• Involvement of undergraduates at Cornell University in Ithaca into these efforts
• Adjunct appointments for partner institutions at WCM and appointments for our faculty at partner institutions
• Annual symposia highlighting clinical and research collaborations