MURFREESBORO, N.C. – For most student-athletes the summer is a relaxing time before returning to campus for another intense academic and athletic year.  For Jordan Pettaway, member of the Chowan Women's Basketball program, this summer is all work and no play.  Pettaway was one of 30 undergraduate students nationwide to spend six weeks at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in their new Summer Medical Leadership Program.

The Summer Medical Leadership Program (SMLP) is an intensive six-week residential medical academic enrichment program for 30 undergraduate students that make up underrepresented groups and/or disadvantaged backgrounds who are interested in pursuing careers in medicine.  The number one goal of SMLP is to expose the participants to the "real world of medicine" to prepare them not only for admission to medical school but to assume future leadership positions in medicine/biomedical field.

The SMLP will expose students to the "real world of medicine" through a clinical medicine lecture series on cutting edge topics in health including: health disparities and global health, telemedicine, bioethics and bioterrorism.  The program will give an introduction into career paths such as: obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN), pediatrics, geriatrics, dermatology, emergency medicine, radiation oncology, endocrinology, and cardiovascular diseases; as well as, provide do's and don'ts of medical school admissions process with simulated medical school interviews.

Jordan wrapped up her time at SMLP on July 15, 2017 and will return to Chowan for her junior season with the team as she pursues her athletic and academic career in the fall.