PREPARE: Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program and Retention Enhancement

描述(申请人提供)：德克萨斯州的少数民族人口在2004年超过了非盎格鲁人，并预计在未来几年将大幅增加。由于社会经济和其他因素，这些少数民族的教育程度处于历史最低水平，这一预测表明，在大学、研究生和职业学校的入学率方面，少数民族之间仍然存在差距。在德克萨斯州，尽管人口第二多的德克萨斯州的人口发生了变化，但未被充分代表的少数族裔学生进入生物医学领域攻读博士学位的人数仍然很低。迫切需要培训更多的卫生专业人员，包括生物医学科学家，以在不久的将来为德克萨斯州的少数族裔人口服务。 UNTHSC是德克萨斯州健康科学中心中培训少数族裔生物医学科学家的领先者。我们已经制定了一项综合计划，以增加生物医学研究中的少数民族人数。我们的学士学位后研究教育计划和留存强化(Prepare)计划的目标是为获得理科本科学位的少数族裔提供具有挑战性的、专注于学士学位后的体验，使他们为进入博士项目做好准备，并使他们能够成功完成这些项目，从而获得博士学位。 我们制定了以下可衡量的目标和详细的评价计划：1. 招聘/预科。准备计划将保留10名毕业后实习生，估计每年将招收5名新实习生。2.研究经验。预科学员将在杰出教师的指导下参与生物医学科学的前线研究。3.GRE的制备。预科学员将接受培训，以提高他们的GRE成绩。4.学术准备。预科学员将接受全面的学术准备计划，为在生物医学科学博士项目中取得成功提供工具。5.说教曝光。预备实习生将接受课程作业，为严格的生物医学研究生教育做准备。6.研究生院招生。高比例的预备学员(至少80%)将进入生物医学科学的博士水平课程。 为了在获奖期内实现这些目标，我们制定了详细的培训、指导和评估计划，如申请书中所述。我们的期望是，Prepare计划将增加进入生物医学科学领域博士项目的少数族裔学生的数量，通过为预备学员提供学术和实验室准备，增加学生在博士项目中的留存率，并导致生物医学科学方面的少数族裔博士人数增加。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The minority population in Texas surpassed the non-Anglo population in 2004, and is projected to increase substantially in the coming years. Projections for educational attainment in these ethnic populations, historically low because of socioeconomic and other factors, suggest continued disparity among minorities for college, graduate and professional school enrollment. Entry of underrepresented minority students into doctoral study in the biomedical sciences in Texas, and indeed, in the nation, remains low despite population changes in Texas, the second most populous in the country. There is an urgent need to train an increased number of health professionals, including biomedical scientists, to serve the minority population in Texas in the near future. UNTHSC is a leader among the health science centers in Texas in training minority biomedical scientists. We have developed an integrated plan to increase the number of minorities in biomedical research. The goal of our Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program and Retention Enhancement (PREPARE) program is to provide underrepresented minority individuals who have received undergraduate degrees in science a challenging, focused post-baccalaureate experience that will prepare them for acceptance into doctoral programs and allow them to successfully complete these programs, thus obtaining their doctoral degrees. We have developed the following measurable objectives along with a detailed evaluation plan: 1. Recruitment/Matriculation. The PREPARE Program will maintain ten post-baccalaureate trainees with an estimated five new trainees admitted each year. 2. Research Experience. PREP trainees will participate in frontline research in biomedical sciences under the mentorship of outstanding faculty. 3. GRE Preparation. PREP trainees will be given training to improve their GRE scores. 4. Academic Preparedness. PREP trainees will receive a thorough academic preparation program that provides the tools for success in a doctoral program in biomedical sciences. 5. Didactic Exposure. PREP trainees will receive coursework to prepare for the rigors of graduate education in biomedical sciences. 6. Graduate School Admission. A high percentage of PREP trainees (at least 80%) will enter doctoral level programs in biomedical sciences. In order to achieve these objectives in the award period, we have developed detailed plans for training, mentoring and evaluation as described in the application. Our expectations are that the PREPARE program will increase the number of minority students entering PhD programs in the biomedical sciences area, increase student retention in the PhD programs through the academic and laboratory preparation provided to the PREP trainees, and result in increased number of minority PhDs in biomedical sciences.