About Us
The Health Sciences Center Minority Students Program (HSCMSP) is a student services program that develops and/or increases interest among underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged students to pursue health-related professional and biomedical/behavioral research careers.
We provide services to students throughout their university career, from undergraduate to professional and graduate study, to help students succeed in and out of the classroom.
We collaborate with UW programs and departments
- Six Health Sciences schools
- Biomedical and Behavioral Science departments
- Other divisions of OMA&D
We support academic success
- Environmental and social support
- Academic support and advising
- Experiential activities
- Research opportunities
- Conference travel assistance
- Study space/student lounge
Our History
Founded in 1979 by Health Sciences Administration (HSA) in collaboration with the Board of Health Sciences Deans, the purpose of the Health Sciences Center Minority Students Program (HSCMSP) was to increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students in the Health Sciences professional degree programs.
By the early 1990’s, the majority of Health Sciences Schools began developing school-specific, directed recruitment. Hence, HSCMSP had the opportunity to establish a niche for itself through successful acquisition of grant funding which would allow HSCMSP to focus its efforts on the development of academically and experientially competitive undergraduate scholars in Health Sciences. In 2003, the HSCMSP became a division of the larger, campus-wide Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity.