MUSC Minority Student Development Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of this program is to provide doctoral training in the biomedical sciences to talented students from underrepresented groups or from disadvantaged backgrounds. The anticipated outcomes are to increase the number of underrepresented minority students choosing a research career in the biomedical sciences, enhance the quantity and quality of minority students enrolled in the doctoral program in the College of Graduate Studies, and prepare them for successful careers. We have formulated three specific aims to facilitate the matriculation, education, and graduation of minority doctoral students at MUSC. The first specific aim is to increase the number and quality of minority students seeking a research career in the biomedical sciences. This will be done by strengthening ties to many colleges and universities with significant numbers of minority students through visits and seminar presentations by faculty and IMSD scholars. Additionally, large numbers of undergraduate students and their families are invited to our campus to attend the E.E. Just Symposium and the summer undergraduate research program. In the second specific aim we seek to facilitate the progression of minority graduate students through the PhD program. Matriculating students are exposed to both faculty and senior student interactions to provide them with a network of support. We have developed a summer review course that is offered to all incoming students prior to their first semester to better prepare them for the rigors of graduate school. We propose to expand this course to include training in a basic molecular biology laboratory to give them a toolkit of techniques to use in their laboratory rotations. The third specific aim is to prepare underrepresented minority graduate students for successful careers in the biomedical sciences. We propose a career development committee to increase interaction of graduate students with professionals at the next career stages to help them successfully navigate the steps of an academic scientific career. Internal and External Advisory Committees will provide oversight for the program. In addition, the program will be evaluated using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Public health relevance: Projections based on U.S. census data indicate that the demographics of our nation's population will change dramatically in the next fifty years, but the composition of our healthcare and biomedical research workforce does not reflect these changing demographics. The goal of this program is to attract talented students from underrepresented groups or from disadvantaged backgrounds into careers in the biomedical sciences in order to increase the supply of investigators who are conducting active research that will impact the treatment of human diseases. Diversifying the work force in these fields will result in an improved capacity to address and eliminate health disparities and improve the quality of health care nationwide.