Mentorship program builds connections to pediatric careers

As the nation faces a growing shortage of pediatricians, faculty at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston are working to strengthen the pipeline by reaching future physicians before they decide which area of medicine to pursue.

The Department of Pediatrics has launched the CONNECT Pediatrics Mentorship Program, a statewide initiative designed to provide first-year medical students with mentorship, career guidance, networking, and opportunities to explore careers caring for children.

“If we can start with students early in their medical school training and mentor them early on, we can inspire them to consider a career in pediatrics,” said Veronica Gonzalez, MD, associate professor of pediatrics.

Addressing a national challenge

CONNECT—which stands for Collaborative Outreach for Networking and Navigating Education, Career, and Training—grew out of a broader effort within the department to address concerns about the pediatric workforce.

Over the past several years, pediatric educators nationwide have examined how to strengthen interest in the specialty as fewer medical students pursue pediatrics and pediatric subspecialties. National organizations have approached the challenge from multiple angles, including reconsidering educational experiences beginning at the premedical level and continuing through medical school, residency, and fellowship training.

Recognizing that national efforts ultimately require action at individual institutions, faculty in the Department of Pediatrics approached Mary Aitken, MD, MPH, chair of the department, about how McGovern Medical School could help address the pediatric workforce shortage at the local and state levels.

Faculty began examining how students encounter pediatrics throughout medical school and how the department could provide greater exposure to the specialty through clinical care, academics, research, advocacy, and mentorship.

The initiative has also strengthened relationships with medical student organizations. Maria Caldas-Vasquez, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, has worked with the Latino Medical Student Association, while Emma Omoruyi, MD, MPH, professor of pediatrics, has connected with the Student National Medical Association, and Amalia Guardiola, MD, professor of pediatrics, serves as a liaison to the Pediatric Student Association. Through these relationships, the program is giving students additional opportunities to interact with pediatricians outside of the traditional curriculum.

“It’s important for students to see not only the various roles they can pursue in pediatrics but also pediatricians from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, so they can see themselves represented and envision a place for themselves within the field,” Omoruyi said.

In 2025, those efforts expanded beyond McGovern Medical School with a pediatric networking event that brought together medical students from UTHealth Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Houston’s Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine. The event included a faculty panel and opportunities for students from all three Houston medical schools to connect with pediatricians and one another.

“We have these three medical schools in Houston, but we’re often very siloed,” Gonzalez said. “We’re always looking for new ways to collaborate.”

Following a strong response from students, organizers plan to hold the networking event again in October.

Expanding mentorship across Texas

CONNECT is planning to take its collaborative approach statewide, beginning with students at seven Texas medical schools whose primary campuses do not have affiliated pediatric residency programs.

It will recruit approximately two students from each school for its inaugural cohort in January 2027. Each student will participate in a yearlong mentorship experience and be paired with a pediatric faculty mentor and a “near-peer” mentor, such as an upper-level medical student or trainee, pursuing pediatrics or a pediatric subspecialty.

The approach will give students access to established pediatricians as well as trainees who recently navigated many of the same decisions they are beginning to face.

“It’s not only about faculty, but it’s also about the people who are coming up as faculty,” Guardiola said. “Fellows and residents who enjoy the educational component of what we do will enrich what they do, and it will be helpful for them as well.”

Mentors will meet regularly with students to provide career and academic guidance while helping them identify scholarly opportunities that may not be readily available at their home institutions. Those opportunities could include research, case reports, quality improvement projects, and other activities that allow students to explore pediatrics while strengthening their residency applications.

Organizers hope the relationships will help students understand the breadth of careers available within pediatrics, from general pediatrics to pediatric subspecialties.

Creating a home base in pediatrics

Organizers believe the department’s network of faculty members, residents, and fellows who are passionate about education and mentorship will provide a foundation for CONNECT to grow alongside student interest.

“Everybody in the department recognizes the need for recruitment,” Gonzalez said. “We have so many passionate educators, and people have been so engaged in mentorship. I think our faculty will be very receptive to assisting in this effort.”

In the long term, the department hopes to give CONNECT participants the opportunity to travel to Houston for an immersive pediatric experience. Students could visit clinics, meet faculty and trainees, learn about subspecialties, and participate in hands-on activities at the medical school’s simulation and clinical skills centers.

“For students without pediatric residency programs at their own institutions, the experience could provide a window into aspects of the specialty they otherwise might not encounter during their medical education,” Gonzalez said.

The ultimate goal extends beyond recruiting students to McGovern Medical School. If the model proves successful, organizers hope to share their results with national pediatric organizations and provide a framework that institutions across the country could replicate.

Doing so could help address a fundamental question facing pediatric educators: How can we provide future physicians with early exposure and meaningful mentorship needed to envision a career in pediatrics and build the pediatric workforce that children need?