History
In the Beginning
NMF was founded in Chicago in 1946 by Franklin McLean, MD, PhD, an eminent physician who understood, well before others, that ensuring access to quality healthcare meant creating more opportunities and reducing financial barriers across all communities to obtain medical education and careers. This was true in 1946, and it is true today.
NMF began by granting scholarships to Black physicians and medical students who otherwise could not have afforded a medical education. As broad social changes swept America, NMF expanded its commitment, giving scholarships more broadly to ensure talented scholars and physician researchers from every community had the financial, professional, and communal support and opportunities needed to succeed and thrive in the field of medicine.
Today, NMF works to address the growing physician shortage by broadening the pathways to medical education, providing leadership opportunities to ensure clinical research includes every patient population, and delivering programs and supports to bolster the future success of medical students and current practitioners.
Alumni Engagement
NMF alumni number more than 45,000 and are at the forefront of the mission to deliver excellent healthcare to everyone. Understanding the incredible insight and lived experiences of NMF alumni, the organization has engaged in an intentional strategy to deepen its engagement with this cadre of health leaders.
In 2011, NMF began connecting their alumni network through its first-ever alumni directory. Encouragement and a generous planning grant from Kaiser Permanente has enabled NMF to grow this work.
Today, led by our Alumni Alliance and Young Leaders Council, our alumni network mentors scholars and actively partners in our programs. Our alumni continue to be a voice for NMF in their own communities and throughout the U.S.
NMF continues to launch new programs and expand special events to foster connections among NMF alumni and friends. NMF looks forward to a period of growth and creativity, drawing on generations of NMF alumni to support the future generations of health leaders committed to achieving better health outcomes for all.
