Chicago Area Health and Medical Careers Program™(CAHMCP)

STEMM Healthcare Mentoring
CPASS Foundation’s Chicago Area Health and Medical Careers Program™ (CAHMCP), has been in place since 1979 and has primarily focused on increasing the number of qualified underrepresented minority applicants and matriculants from the city of Chicago to medical and other health professional schools. We offer today’s Illinois underrepresented in medicine (URiM) students holistic support on their path to medical and health careers.

The CAHMCP Program consists of the following components to provide our Illinois URiM students the support they need to pursue
and persist in a medical or health profession.

  1. CAHMCP Residency Interviewing Resources Initiative (RIR)
  2. CAHMCP Access + Professional Development Initiative
  3. CAHMCP MCAT Resource Access Program
  4. CAHMCP STEP Access: Step Test Exam Prep Access
  5. CAHMCP Step Pathway
  6. CAHMCP Helping Our Students Travel (H.O.S.T.) Program – Coming Soon!!!

For more information about any of these programs, email us: cahmcp@cpassfoundation.org

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CAHMCP Residency Interviewing Resources Initiative (RIR)

Senior medical students in good standing who attend any accredited Illinois medical school are eligible to apply for reimbursement of residency interviewing expenses if they meet the following eligibility criteria*:

  1. Must be an Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) student as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that attends an accredited Illinois medical school.
  2. Volunteered with any recognized CPASS Mini-Medical School during their medical school training prior to submitting a reimbursement application.
    • Minimally volunteer for, but not limited to, a total of 4 hours from August 1, 2023 – July 31, 2024.
    • Minimally volunteer for, but not limited to, a total of 8 hours starting August 1, 2024.
    • The respective CPASS Mini-Medical School site director or their designee must complete a short online recommendation survey on the URiM student’s work ethic and commitment during the volunteer service period and confirm the total number of completed volunteer hours.
  3. Residency Interview occurs 75 miles away from the place the URiM student resides during the academic year. This address must be verified by that Illinois medical school in writing.
  4. The Illinois medical school in which the URiM student attends agrees to minimally, but not limited to, a 10% match of the total requested reimbursement for each residency interview travel in writing. A copy of the letter must be submitted with the reimbursement application and at least must be in the following form and document the following language:
    • Must be on the official medical school letterhead;
    • Address to the URiM student;
    • Signed by the Dean of the Medical School or their official designee;
    • Medical school will remit to the URiM student those matching funds within 10 business days after each completed travel; and
    • Matching funds designed for the URiM student have no conditions of repayment.
  5. Applicant must be a US citizen

Please note this is a two-part application process, if invited to continue you will receive another application link to collect additional information and to submit a recommender’s name.

*Eligibility criteria and terms & conditions are subject to change at any time. All completed reimbursement requests are reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis. CPASS does not guarantee each reimbursement request will be fully funded.

CAHMCP Test Prep Access + Professional Development Initiative

Free standardized Test Prep courses FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS

Undergraduate students in good standing who graduated from an Illinois high school
are invited to apply for access to online Kaplan® test prep courses and professional
development seminars if they meet the following eligibility criteria*:

  1. Applicant must be an Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) student as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
  2. Must be able to demonstrate they graduated from an Illinois high school
  3. Must have a minimum GPA of 3.2
  4. Completed at least 75 hours of volunteer service during their undergraduate studies.
  5. Applicant must be a US citizen

*Eligibility criteria and terms & conditions are subject to change at any time. Seats are limited and are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

See the application for additional details & requirements. This program includes access to free online Kaplan® prep courses (e.g. MCAT, GRE, DAT, PANCE, & NCLEX).

CAHMCP MCAT Resource Access Program Free Kaplan® MCAT Complete 7-Book Test Prep

Undergraduate URiM students in good standing who graduated from an Illinois high school are invited to apply to receive the 2022-23 Kaplan® MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review if they meet the following eligibility criteria*:

  1. Applicant must be an Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) student as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
  2. Must be able to demonstrate they graduated from an Illinois high school
  3. Must have a minimum GPA of 3.2
  4. Completed at least 75 hours of volunteer service during their undergraduate studies
  5. Applicant must be a US citizen

*Eligibility criteria and terms & conditions are subject to change at any time. Materials are limited and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

See the application for additional details and requirements. The set includes the Kaplan® MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review “2022-2023”, online prep, & 3 Practice Tests.

CAHMCP STEP Access: Step Test Exam Prep Access

FREE access to online USMLE® Kaplan® Step Test Prep Courses

URiM medical students in good standing who attend any accredited Illinois medical
school are invited to apply for FREE access to online USMLE® Kaplan® Step Test Prep Courses if they meet the following eligibility criteria (see application for detailed requirements):*

  1. Applicant must be an Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) student as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
  2. Currently attending an accredited Illinois medical school
  3. Volunteered with any recognized CPASS Mini-Medical School (MMS) during their medical school training prior to submitting an application.
    Recommendation Required.
  4. Applicant must be a US citizen

*Eligibility criteria and terms & conditions are subject to change at any time. Seats are limited and are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

CAHMCP STEP Pathway Initiative

URiM medical students in good standing who attend any accredited Illinois medical school are invited to apply for reimbursement of their Step Test registration fees if they meet the following eligibility criteria (see application for detailed requirements):*

  1. Applicant must be an Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) student as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
  2. Currently attending an accredited Illinois medical school
  3. Volunteered with any recognized CPASS Mini-Medical School (MMS) during their medical school training prior to submitting an application. Recommendation Required.
  4. Applicant must be a US citizen

*Eligibility criteria and terms & conditions are subject to change at any time. All completed reimbursement requests are reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis. CPASS does not guarantee each reimbursement request will be fully funded.