Hilda Hutcherson on the importance of pipeline programs

We served so many students--hundreds of students every year, and I'm so grateful for the support that we've received from our faculty, from our medical students, from even staff at the medical center. They've really helped to make dreams of young people come come true.

And I think that we have contributed to the diverse--I know that we've contributed to the diversity of the health professions throughout the country. We have people who've gone through our pipeline programs who are now leaders at major institutions and they develop their own pipeline programs so it just goes...you know it keeps going.

It's one of the reasons why I decided rather than to be a practicing physician, who just you know set up a shop, and you see one patient at a time, that I could have a greater impact in academia. Yeah...and in leadership, by creating opportunities for people who come from a background that I came from to be successful and then they would give back. And it's like throwing out a a pebble into a pond and you get this ripple and it just goes on and on and on and on and so I'm so happy that I that I made that decision.