Promoting Minority Students' Interest in Research

描述（由申请人提供）： 进入医学、护理和相关卫生保健学科的少数民族学生人数正在下降。例如，在过去的5-6年里，进入我们医学院的少数民族学生人数下降了约82%（从1998年的50人下降到2002年的9人）。这种入学率的逐渐下降并不是我们医学院所独有的，因为它在全国许多高等教育机构中都有观察到。类似的趋势也出现在研究生教育项目中。扭转这一趋势的一个关键方法是让代表性不足的少数民族学生在本科教育期间参与生物医学和行为研究。德雷克塞尔大学医学院（Drexel Med）已经在生物医学科学方面培养了150多年的学生。它最近与工程和计算机科学领域受人尊敬的领导者德雷克塞尔大学合并，揭示了更多的机会。在德雷克塞尔医学，我们拥有成功启动和实施夏季研究计划所需的经验和专业知识。我们目前有三个项目，为当地高中，本科和医学生提供短期暑期研究培训机会。这些成功的计划作为一个原型，在与NHLBI合作，为代表性不足的少数民族学生在本科和研究生课程在各学校和学院内德雷克塞尔大学和切尼大学-在该国最古老的黑人历史大学类似的研究机会。由于NHLBI的主要目标是支持心血管，肺，血液和睡眠障碍领域的研究，因此在此培训补助金下注册的少数民族学生将被分配到基础和临床部门的许多（> 19）研究人员中的一个，他们正在类似的兴趣领域工作。我们相信，通过提供这样一个机会，在本科和研究生课程代表性不足的少数民族学生，我们不仅会丰富他们的学术经验，但也将促进他们进入和保留到医疗保健相关的专业途径。这个结果将满足我们种族不同的社区日益增长的需求，并有助于缓解目前少数群体在普通民众中的代表性与卫生保健专业之间的不和谐。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The number of underrepresented minority students entering into medicine, nursing, and related health care disciplines is declining. To illustrate, in the past 5-6 years, the number of underrepresented minority students entering into our medical college has dropped by about 82% (from 50 in 1998 to 9 in 2002). This gradual decline in enrollment is not unique to our medical college, for it is observed in many institutions of higher education across the nation. A similar trend is also witnessed in graduate education programs. One key approach that could be adopted to reverse this trend is to involve underrepresented minority students in biomedical and behavioral research during the course of their undergraduate education. Drexel University College of Medicine (Drexel Med) has been educating students in biomedical sciences for over 150 years. Its recent merger with Drexel University, a respected leader in engineering and computer sciences, has unveiled yet additional opportunities. At Drexel Med, we have the required experience and the expertise to successfully initiate and implement summer research programs. We currently have three programs which offer short-term summer research training opportunities to local high school, undergraduate, and medical students. These successful programs serve as an archetype for initiating, in partnership with NHLBI, similar research opportunities for underrepresented minority students in undergraduate and graduate programs in various schools and colleges within Drexel University and at Cheyney University - the oldest black historical university in the country. Since the primary goal of NHLBI is to support research in the areas of cardiovascular, pulmonary, blood, and sleep disorders, minority students enrolled under this training grant will be assigned to one of the many (> 19) investigators in basic and clinical departments who are working in areas of similar interests. We believe that by providing such an opportunity to underrepresented minority students in undergraduate and graduate programs, we will not only enrich their academic experience but would also facilitate their entry and retention into health care related professional pathways. This outcome would meet the growing needs of our racially divergent communities and help alleviate the existing discord between the representation of minorities in the general populace as compared to that in the health care profession.