Mentoring Corps Program

The Pre-Career Footsteps Mentoring Corps (PCFMC) is the flagship program of the HBCU Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health that provides behavioral health graduate students, medical students, and psychiatry residents/fellows at HBCUs with mentorship, stipends, networking opportunities, and professional development.

Twenty-five Mentoring Corps Leaders are selected each year to participate in the program for one academic year, representing HBCUs from across the country. The Leaders must be enrolled in a behavioral health graduate program, a medical degree program, or a psychiatry residency or fellowship at an HBCU to participate. They must also be engaged in a required face-to-face training experience during their participation in our program (i.e. a practicum, internship, clerkship, clinical rotation, or the equivalent for their field). 

Each Leader is matched with a mentor in their field that can provide them with direction and guidance as they embark on their careers in their respective behavioral health fields.  

As the Leaders progress through the program, they create and deliver presentations on behavioral health career pathways and other relevant topics to undergraduates at HBCUs. Each Leader is rewarded with a stipend totaling $9,000 for their involvement and efforts in the program and attend virtual professional development webinars throughout the academic year.

Applications for the PCFMC are currently closed and will reopen for the 2025-2026 academic year in February 2025.