Ponte las pilas!

Growing up in Miami, that’s what first-year College of Medicine student Melanie Fernandez (right) was always told by her Cuban immigrant family.

Fernandez followed the advice to focus and finish her work. Now, this Hispanic student is one of 48 students in the College’s first-year class who are underrepresented minority students — a level of diversity that puts NEOMED far ahead of the national average.

Through the voices of students and administrators, “Good Trouble in Rootstown” tells how a small university is achieving outsized success at recruiting and developing a future health care workforce that reflects its patients.

This story of how transformational student leaders are being developed appears in the Fall 2021 issue of Ignite, NEOMED’s human interest magazine, available free online.