Two UConn School of Medicine students Riley Cable and Lila Medeiros of the Class of 2028 are immersed in a unique, new summer training program offered by the New England Donor Services (NEDS) seeking to educate future doctors to address longstanding inequities in organ donation.

In the New England region NEDS is the federally designated Organ Procurement Organization responsible for the recovery of organs and tissues for transplant. Its inaugural 8-week summer training program is providing medical students of all backgrounds from across New England with hands-on donation and transplant experience as they learn about potential career paths in organ donation and transplantation.

Galen V. Henderson, MD Stimulate Equity, Education, and Diversity (SEED) Program’s goal is to train the next generation of doctors like Cable and Medeiros from UConn and other medical schools across the region on ways to improve fairness in organ donation and transplantation in health care. The new program is named in honor of the late Dr. Galen V. Henderson, who served as an associate medical director for NEDS and the first Black neurointensivist in the United States.

The need for a new training program like this is important as the latest data from a report shows:

• Donor registration rates among black, Asian, and Hispanic Americans are lower compared to other racial and ethnic groups.
• Black patients are less likely than white patients to be preemptively referred for transplant evaluation.
• Black, Asian, and Hispanic patients have substantially lower rates of living donor kidney transplantation compared to white patients.
• Only 4% of transplant surgeons and physicians are Black.

In addition to UConn, medical students from Brown University, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, and University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine participated in the new summer NEDS training program.

Cable of UConn’s medical school is interested in possibly pursuing a future career in the surgical specialties.

“This program is a great opportunity to get exposure to a surgical field while learning about transplantation,” says Cable. “From scrubbing in for organ recovery surgeries to hearing from donor families or meeting physician leaders in the field, it’s been an awesome experience.”

After being immersed in the program this summer Cable of UConn says, “There’s so much more to organ donation than having a heart on your driver’s license. As a future physician it’s helpful to learn the process of organ donation and transplantation so I can better advocate for my patients. This internship has definitely opened my eyes to transplant surgery as a career choice. We get such a unique view of the field through this program and I’m grateful to have the opportunity.”

UConn medical student Medeiros chose to participate in the new SEED program for the unique opportunity to learn more about the field of transplantation.

“I had no idea how much of an impact this program would have on my path moving forward,” says Medeiros. “Learning about the history of transplantation and the remarkable progress in the field has been incredibly inspiring. But what has impacted me most are the powerful stories shared by donor families and recipients. Hearing their firsthand experiences, marked by resilience, generosity, and courage, has been the greatest privilege.”

Medeiros concludes, “While a career in transplant surgery is something I am now strongly considering, I know the insights and perspective I have gained from this program will stay with me no matter which specialty I ultimately pursue.”

Their exciting summer program ends on July 24.

Learn more about the Galen V. Henderson, MD Stimulate Equity, Education, and Diversity (SEED) Program.