The journey through medical school is extremely difficult. It is unlikely that students will take a direct path through medical school. You will be required to make many choices and may change paths multiple times based on self-reflection of your values and core beliefs. This is a transformative time as you establish your professional identity and make countless personal sacrifices. Medical school is also rapidly changing. Advice that worked in the past may not always hold true.  

A first-generation low-income student is defined as a student whose parents have not earned a four-year undergraduate degree. The acronym for this is FGLI, pronounced as “FIGLY.” We know that these students experience a unique set of challenges in medical school as compared to their peers. It is an identity that is invisible, and you display a vulnerable side of yourself when you share this with others. However, your background matters. Students with similar or even greater challenges have found their way through this process, and you will too. 

Recognition of first-generation student status is a relatively new phenomenon and this information started to be collected in the medical school application process in 2017. At the University of Michigan medical school, the need to better serve this population was established by Courtney Kein and Jourdin Batchelor in the Class of 2020 as they created a first-generation student mentorship program to better support diverse populations in the medical school. Jennifer Fokas, Class of 2021,  Bridger Rodoni, Class of 2022, and Lauren LaMonica, Class of 2024 helped formalize and build the infrastructure to ensure that the FGLI community continues to thrive. 

Our hope is that the FGLI community will allow students to better navigate medical school and feel empowered. We aim to improve the medical school experience for those that come after us. If we can narrow the social class achievement gap, we can work to build greater diversity in all medical specialties.