Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP)

The Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP), also known as the National HCOP Academies, strives to develop a more competitive applicant pool to build the health professions. The Program's goal is to provide students from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds who are interested in pursuing a health profession to develop the needed skills to compete for, enter, and graduate from a health or allied health professions program, graduate program in behavioral and mental health, and/or programs for the training of physician assistants. HCOP strives to improve retention, matriculation and graduation rates by implementing tailored enrichment programs designed to address the academic and social needs of trainees from disadvantaged backgrounds. It also provides opportunities for community-based health professions training, emphasizing experiences in underserved communities. HCOP focuses on three key milestones of education: (1) graduation from high school; (2) retention and graduation from college; and (3) acceptance, retention, and completion of a health career’s degree program.