Mentoring Diverse Students in Health Disparities Research

描述（由申请人提供）：鉴于文化、文化适应和社会经济地位等因素的异质性，需要进一步研究与少数群体特有的慢性疾病相关的健康差异和共同的保护和风险因素。然而，在美国，少数民族研究人员、科学家和大学教师的代表性不足，这导致寻求理解和扭转少数民族社区所经历的负面健康差异的科学家的洞察力受到限制。因此，必须培训和培养少数民族学生进行研究，以减少健康差距，同时为学生提供机会，提高他们在研究、学术和职业追求方面的技能，继续为减少健康差距作出贡献。随着越来越多的少数民族学生和其他在研究中代表性不足的学生发展成为研究人员的技能，将有更大的潜力使劳动力多样化，促进文化敏感的研究，鼓励不同群体继续参与研究。拟议的培训计划名为“指导健康差异研究中的不同学生”，将把在少数民族社区健康研究中取得成就的研究人员与本科生和研究生一起，优化他们在研究、学术和职业上的成功和进步的机会，并为学生成为下一代研究人员做好准备，他们将解决健康差异问题。为了促进学生的学术或职业发展，该团队将提供一个培训和指导计划（TMP），包括由专家研究人员进行的一系列教育培训和指导，参与社区研究的实习，以及专注于少数民族健康和健康差异研究的特别研究项目。在健康差异研究中代表性不足的两组SDSU学生（30名本科生和10名公共卫生硕士研究生）各20人将参加为期两年的TMP。该计划的最终目标是使学生具备必要的研究技能，以追求更高水平的学术或其他职业追求，有助于减少健康差距。将定期评估拟议的TMP，以确定所采用方法的总体相关性和价值。学生和导师的反馈将被用来完善项目，以最好地满足参与者的需求。此外，方案的部分内容将在结束时传播，使其他不能参加的人能够利用培训的各个方面发展富有成效的少数群体健康研究技能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Given the heterogeneity of factors such as culture, acculturation, and socioeconomic status, there is a need for additional research on health disparities and shared protective and risk factors associated with chronic diseases specific to minority subgroups. However, there is an under-representation of minority researchers, scientists and university faculty in the US, which contributes to a limitation in insight among scientists seeking to understand and reverse the negative health disparities experienced by minority communities. It is thus crucial to train and develop minority students to conduct research that will reduce health disparities and at the same time provide students with opportunities to advance their skills in research, academics, and career pursuits to continue to contribute to reducing health disparities. As more minority students and other students underrepresented in research develop the skills to become researchers, there will be greater potential to diversify the workforce and promote culturally sensitive research that encourages the continued inclusion and participation of diverse groups in research studies. The proposed training program, entitled, "Mentoring Diverse Students in Health Disparities Research," will bring researchers accomplished in minority community health research together with undergraduate and graduate students to optimize their chances of research, academic and career success and advancement and prepare students to become the next generation of researchers who will be addressing health disparities. To advance the academic or career development of students, the proposed team will offer a Training and Mentoring Program (TMP) involving a series of educational trainings and mentoring by expert researchers, internship participation in community research, and special research projects focused on minority health and health disparities research. Two cohorts of twenty SDSU students each (30 undergraduate and 10 public health master's level graduate students total) who are underrepresented in health disparities research will participate in the two-year TMP. The ultimate goal of the program is to equip the students with the necessary research skills necessary to pursue higher level involvement in an academic or other career pursuit that contributes to reducing health disparities. The proposed TMP will be evaluated regularly to determine the overall relevance and value of the methods employed. Student and mentor feedback will be used to refine the program to best meet the needs of the participants. Further, portions of the program will be disseminated at its conclusion to allow others who are not able to attend to develop productive minority health research skills using aspects of the training. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There is an under-representation of minorities conducting health disparities research in the US, which contributes to a narrowing of insights among scientists seeking to understand and reverse the negative health disparities experienced by minority communities. Therefore, this training and mentoring program will fulfill a great need by training and developing undergraduate and graduate students underrepresented in research to develop research skills to contribute to the reduction in health disparities and therefore increase minority community members' access to culturally competent health information and care.