This article (published in 1999) describes the strong recruitment and retention programmes designed for under-represented minorities and disadvantaged students attending the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. The article describes the ways in which the college supports minority students through both undergraduate and medical school. The medical college first focused on supporting students already in the medical school curriculum, then expanded logically back through the undergraduate premedical programmes, always targeting learning strategies and survival strategies, peer and faculty support, and mastery of the basic science content.