Sep 11 2026

For 38 years, SHPEP, starting as the Minority Medical Education Program, evolved into more than a summer program. RWJF’s investment planted a seed that has fostered a national network – a community deeply committed to improving access to opportunity. SHPEP and its predecessor programs have launched careers, lifelong friendships, and even families. With such a significant investment by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), SHPEP has become a staple within the health professions community. With the conclusion of our final summer cohort in 2026, we know this transition evokes a range of emotions. For many members of the SHPEP community, the decision to sunset the program has been difficult. We share that sense of loss, and we are incredibly proud of what this community has built together. The true legacy of SHPEP is not measured merely in program cycles or years on a calendar, but in every exam room, laboratory, classroom, and community where our alumni lead and serve each day. That impact cannot be sunset—it continues to ripple forward through the generations of healers and leaders who follow.

Since 1989, SHPEP and its predecessor programs have served more than 32,000 students. More than 9,000 alumni have become physicians and more than 2,000 have become dentists, with thousands more pursuing careers across the health professions and related fields. But SHPEP’s impact cannot be measured by numbers alone. It can also be seen in the friendships formed, mentors gained, confidence built, careers launched, and communities served by generations of alumni.

Although SHPEP’s summer programming has concluded, its story does not end here. The SHPEP website will remain available as a historical resource celebrating the program’s 38-year legacy. A new SHPEP page on AAMC.org will also serve as a place for future updates, information about ongoing opportunities, scholarship resources, and other ways we continue to support and connect the SHPEP community.

We remain deeply grateful to every scholar, alum, educator, advisor, program-site colleague, partner, and supporter who helped make SHPEP what it became. Most of all, we hope our alumni will continue to carry forward the relationships, lessons, and sense of community that have always been at the heart of SHPEP.

With gratitude,
The SHPEP National Program Office