Programming includes the following components: Academic Enrichment, Clinical Exposure, Personal/Professional Development, Teambuilding, and Community Service. The University of Louisville Professional Education Preparation Program (PEPP) Pre-College Summer Workshop is a residential academic enrichment and career exploration summer program for Kentucky graduating high school seniors interested in medicine or dentistry. This program equips young scholars to transition into college and helps them to plan for competitive medical or dental school applications. This program was established in 1980 by the Kentucky General Assembly to assist in diminishing the number of medically underserved areas in Kentucky by developing more competitive applicants for medical and dental school from those areas. The University of Kentucky also hosts a PEPP Pre-College Summer Workshop and the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine hosts a two-week PEPP program for current high school sophomores and juniors. The underlying premise is that such students are more likely to return to their hometowns or similar areas to practice medicine or dentistry, thus helping to eliminate the health professional shortage areas in Kentucky.
