NY ANKH Douaou · IMHOTEP
IMHOTEP Vision Scholars Program
A structured ophthalmology mentorship bridging African American ophthalmology role models with the cultural and linguistic diversity found across African eye care settings.
We take scholars from exam lane to operating room, cultivating the next generation of eye care physicians in the 4,500 year old tradition of Imhotep and NY ANKH Douaou.
Three strategic pillars
How the program is built
Every scholar experience rests on the same three pillars, from a first shadowing shift to a submitted manuscript.
Mentored Clinical Experiences
Scholars learn in real exam lanes and ambulatory surgery centers, paired with practicing ophthalmologists who supervise every encounter.
Training Program Development
A repeatable curriculum, competency checklists, and compliance framework any private practice can adopt as a training site.
Visionary Leadership
Scholars are prepared to lead, through research output, community outreach, and the moral traditions of truth, justice, balance, harmony, reciprocity, and propriety.
Program levels
Three levels, one pathway
Scholars enter where they are and keep going, high school, undergraduate, medical school.
Level 1
Discovery Scholars
High school students, grades 11 to 12
A first, structured look inside a working eye care practice, anatomy, imaging technology, professionalism, and supervised observation.
Explore Discovery Scholars →Level 2
Pre Med Scholars
College and university students, including SNMA MAPS chapters
Deeper diagnostic training, expanded surgical observation, and a first mentored research project with deidentified data.
Explore Pre Med Scholars →Level 3
Clinical Scholars
Medical students MS1 to MS4, including an elective option for MS3 to MS4
Advanced clinical exposure, surgical mentorship, manuscript level research, and residency application guidance.
Explore Clinical Scholars →Featured impact
What scholars have built so far
50
Scholars enrolled across three levels
32
Case reports and posters produced
10
Alumni matched into residency
1
Mentor physicians and host practices
All reported outcomes are aggregate and deidentified in accordance with HIPAA Safe Harbor standards.
Spotlight
Scholars, mentors, and deadlines
“I walked into my first exam lane at sixteen. Four years later I am writing my medical school personal statement about that summer.”
Amara T.
Discovery Scholar, Class of 2023
“Hosting scholars changed my practice. The competency checklists gave us structure we never had for teaching.”
Dr. Kwame Boateng, MD
Mentor Ophthalmologist
“My case report from the pre med track was accepted at the NMA Ophthalmology Section meeting.”
Jasmine R.
Pre Med Scholar, Class of 2024
“Applications for the Summer Intensive close March 15. Interviews begin in April.”
Upcoming deadline
Application cycle
Partners & affiliations
Built with the community that raised us
- NMA Ophthalmology Section
- SNMA
- Rabb Venable Excellence Program
- HPREP
- Advanced Eye Care Centers of New York
Carry the standard forward
Apply as a scholar, open your practice as a training site, or fund a scholar's summer.