In its 35 years, NC-HCAP has served thousands of students, administrators, practitioners, health professionals, advisors, health professions programs, community health agencies and local Area Health Education Centers. Through a variety of programs and activities geared toward disadvantaged students — from elementary to graduate school—as well as to their parents, mentors and communities, NC-HCAP works to increase the number of students trained and employed in the health
professions. When these students become
health practitioners—particularly in underserved communities—they promote a higher quality of life for us all.

Originally called the North Carolina Health Manpower Development Program (NCHMDP), NC-HCAP was established in 1971 through a consortium of educational institutions and community health service agencies to address the shortage of health professionals, especially in minority, poor, rural and inner-city communities in North Carolina. Initially, the program was funded by several grants from private foundations, the federal government and the health professions schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In July 1973, the UNC General Administration provided funds to underwrite a portion of the personnel costs for the NC-HCAP central office located at UNC and provided matching funds to establish three regional health careers centers at Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina Central University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. These three NC-HCAP centers continue to provide health careers education to pre-college and college students in unique ways on their respective campuses and in the surrounding communities. In 1974, the NCHMDP became an interinstitutional program of the University of North Carolina system. It was renamed the North Carolina Health Careers Access Program in May 1990.

Three former executive directors paved the way for the current leadership to continue NC-HCAP’s mission and programs. These individuals include our founding director Ms. Eva Clayton, who later became a U.S. Congresswoman from North Carolina; Dr. E. LaVonia Allison, who continues to focus her political advocacy on equitable educational opportunities for minority youth; and Dr. Robert Thorpe, who served a brief stint as the interim director and is an associate professor in the UNC School of Medicine, Department of Allied Health Sciences. Dr. Carolyn M. Mayo, an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences at UNC and in the Department of Communication Disorders at NC Central University, has served as NC-HCAP’s executive director since 1990.

Although the wording of our mission statement has been altered slightly from time to time during our 35-year history, the essence of our mission continues to reflect our founder’s philosophical stance—to increase the number of individuals from educationally or economically disadvantaged backgrounds (with emphasis on underrepresented minorities) who are trained, educated and employed in the health professions.