SPRINGFIELD, Illinois - Sixteen central Illinois-area high school students are better prepared to become physicians after graduating from the Physician Pipeline Preparatory Program (P 4 ), a four-year program sponsored by Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield Public Schools (SPS) and the Sangamon County Medical Society. The P 4 graduation was held in the South Auditorium at SIU’s main instructional building, 801 N. Rutledge St. on February 14. [Editor: See the list of graduating students below.] The Pipeline Program, established in 2009, was designed to encourage local