After a long career as a small business owner running an auto repair business, Carl Allamby decided to take a chance and pursue his life-long dream of becoming a doctor.

In investigating his options, Allamby looked for a program that could provide the academic support he needed to prepare for medical school; the flexibility and assistance necessary for a non-traditional, working studen;, and the opportunity to serve his community.

He found all three in the Partnership for Urban Health.

“I had a successful career and a family, but I really wanted to more directly help people and saw medicine as a perfect way to make my community a better place,” Allamby says. “Through the CSU-NEOMED program I have found the support I needed to succeed and developed the skills necessary to provide excellent medical care to the populations and neighborhoods that need it the most.”

The Partnership, founded by Cleveland State University and Northeast Ohio Medical University and now including Ohio University, seeks to recruit and train a more diverse healthcare workforce to provide primary care to medically underserved urban communities. The goal is to connect future physicians directly to the types of communities they will serve after completing their training.

Students in the program take pre-med courses at Cleveland State and qualify for early assurance admission to NEOMED or Ohio University where they pursue an urban health curriculum and have an opportunity to conduct numerous clinical and non-clinical assignments at Cleveland-area healthcare facilities.

Allamby took post-baccalaureate classes at CSU to obtain the additional academic preparation he needed before officially enrolling in medical school in 2015. During his tenure at NEOMED, he has completed medical rotations at Metro Health and Summa Health System and a non-clinical rotation at Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services Inc. He is also currently serving as a student member of NEOMED’s Board of Trustees, providing incites on the academic, financial and social needs of students on campus.

Now in his third year of medical school, Allamby is on schedule to graduate next year.

“The support and assistance I received from the dedicated faculty and staff at CSU and NEOMED has been central to my success,” Allamby says. “At every turn people were there to make sure I had everything I needed and could accomplish the goals I set for myself.”

Allamby also stresses that while the program provides excellent training in science and medicine, he has learned just as much if not more from the courses and rotations that focused on the social, mental and economic needs of urban populations. He feels the social and cultural skills he is learning will make him a much better care giver and will be required knowledge for all individuals practicing medicine in the 21st Century.

“The science is important but so are the people being cared for,” Allamby notes. “This program is really teaching us how to be effective community health advocates as well as good doctors.”