First in Family

First in Family at the University of Michigan Medical School provides medical students who are first-generation and/or low-income with the academic, professional, financial, and community resources necessary to succeed in medical school and the medical profession. Our organization aims to meet the emergent and long-term financial needs of FGLI medical students, to provide resources to allow students to navigate professional development individually, and to build a community of shared identity.

First in Family at the University of Michigan Medical School provides medical students who are first-generation (first in their family to complete a four-year degree) and/or low-income with the academic, professional, financial, and community resources necessary to succeed in medical school and in the medical profession. Approximately 11% of our medical school community identifies as the first in their family to pursue college, navigating a new environment for the first time.

Over the past few years, First in Family has been able to expand resources for first-generation and low-income (FGLI) medical students due to the support of generous donors, many of whom were once in the shoes of being the first in their families to pursue higher education and the medical profession. The support that FGLI can offer students includes:

Professional Development

Navigating specialty paths is challenging during medical school, and even more challenging for FGLI students who often lack advisors or parents in the medical profession. With an increasing number of pipeline programs across Urology, Dermatology, Radiology, Ophthalmology, and General Surgery, we have been able to facilitate close relationships between FGLI students and mentors in a specialty area of interest.

Resident and Faculty Mentorship Families

We pair FGLI students with mentors like senior peer liaisons, residents, and faculty across specialties to provide academic advice and support throughout the preclinical and clinical years.

Financial and Essential Resources

Financial strain often poses a significant burden for FGLI students navigating medical school. Nearly 55% of FGLI students report inadequate food security and/or concern about their ability to access food. The inaugural Food Packaging Program was launched in March 2022 and provides packaged grocery items for FGLI students.

MCard Supplemental Assistance Program

We provide financial support for students to access basic meals and to address food insecurity.

Grocery Gathering

We host a community event to provide students with groceries to combat food insecurity amongst our FGLI students.

Your gift will directly support the continued expansion of the above initiatives as well as the launch of new resources, including:

Monthly Community Gatherings

FGLI students are a growing community at Michigan Medicine. With your support, we can cultivate peer-to-peer connections through community events that foster shared identity among our students like study groups and coffee or meal meet-ups.

NBME Study Resource Fund

Many low-income students are unable to utilize the same study resources as their peers due to the high cost of materials. This initiative plans to support student access to otherwise cost-prohibitive study resources for their shelf and Step exams through vouchers for practice examinations and other frequently used digital resources.

First-Generation and Low-Income (FGLI) Scholarly Research

We want to support quantitative and qualitative research into the FGLI identity and pathway from medical school to residency by specialty.

Thank you for helping to provide FGLI students at University of Michigan with the opportunities to succeed in medical school and a supportive community!