Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities in Maternal, Child and Family Health

《健康人2020》解决了在健康行为、结果和卫生保健质量方面存在的巨大差距， 非裔美国人、拉丁美洲人和美洲印第安人/阿拉斯加原住民。一项重要的国家战略， 这些差异是为了增加这些人口中的科学家和专业人员的数量， 健康研究竞技场。健康差距反映了教育差距，因为两者都植根于经济 劣势收入差距大与完成学士学位的比率较低有关， 这挑战了我们的国家目标，即培训多样化的公共卫生工作人员，以实现国家卫生公平 目标.正如史密斯和他的同事（2009年）所建议的那样，在没有故意和实质性地支持学术界的情况下， 少数民族学生的成功，在消除健康差距方面不会取得进展。实习和 导师制已被证明可以提高学生的保留率和攻读研究生学位的可能性 少数民族学生。这一劳动力队伍中的一个关键领域是孕产妇和儿童保健， 种族差异与婴儿死亡率、低出生体重、儿童肥胖、青少年 怀孕和青少年危险性行为。该提案通过一项 密集的夏季研究计划，吸引了麻省大学波士顿分校的本科生的不同群体 (12在创新的教育活动和深入的经验，工作资助孕产妇，儿童 家庭健康研究项目由五名麻省大学波士顿分校的教师领导。包括过渡支架， 促进学生职业发展。麻省大学波士顿分校是这样一个计划的理想场所，最近已经取得了 在提高其区域、国家和国际研究资格方面取得重大进展，同时 为本科生提供研究机会。美国教育部Title III机构，麻省大学 波士顿的学生人口中有56%是第一代，12，847名本科生中有33%是未成年人。 代表少数民族。我们努力为学生提供众多和丰富的机会进行研究， 与社区互动，建立核心技能，并保持他们对研究的追求作为他们的职业和激情。 本建议的具体目标是：（1）计划，实施和评估10周的指导本科生 夏季研究计划。学生和导师经验的评估将包括收集 （a）方案前和方案后调查数据，以量化 学生的科学职业观，感知学习，以及对未来教育和工作的认识， （B）对学生的整体和角色变化的方案前和方案后评估， （c）课程结束后的结构化面试，以评估学生和导师对以下问题的看法： 学生的经验和学习，程序质量和需要改进，和个人满意度; 和（d）对学生技能发展进行以组合为基础的定性评价，包括介绍 研究和社区经验，以及统计数据的使用，研究道德和职业资源;以及（2） 促进征聘和培养新一代任职人数不足的生物医学、 行为和临床研究人员在孕产妇，儿童和家庭健康。评价将包括：（a）年度 跟进调查，以评估过去学生的职业发展，感知的知识/技能， （B）每年对下列项目进行跟踪评估： 学生的教育和职业成就，在国家学生信息交换所数据库中跟踪 目前由波士顿大学使用。

Healthy People 2020 addresses gaping disparities in health behaviors, outcomes and quality of health care in African American, Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native populations. A key national strategy for reducing these disparities is to increase the number of scientists and professionals from these populations working in the health research arena. Health disparities mirror educational disparities, in that both are rooted in economic disadvantage. Large income gaps are associated with lower rates of completion of baccalaureate degrees, which challenges our national goals for training a diverse public health workforce to meet national health equity goals. As Smith and colleagues (2009) suggest, without intentionally and substantially supporting the academic success of minority students, progress will not be made in the elimination of health disparities. Internships and mentoring have been shown to increase both retention rates and the likelihood of pursuing a graduate degree among minority students. One critical area in this workforce pipeline is maternal and child health, where ethnic and racial disparities are associated with infant mortality, low birth weight, childhood obesity, adolescent pregnancy and youth sexual risk behaviors. This proposal addresses these very challenges through an intensive summer research program that engages diverse cohorts of UMass Boston undergraduate students (12 per year) in innovative educational activities and in-depth experiences working on funded maternal, child and family health research projects being led by five UMass Boston faculty. Transition supports are included to bolster student career progression. UMass Boston is an ideal site for such a program, having recently made significant strides in increasing its regional, national and international research credentials, while in tandem providing opportunities for undergraduate research. A US Department of Education Title III Institution, UMass Boston’s student population is 56% first-generation, and 33% of its 12,847 undergraduates are under- represented minorities. We strive to provide numerous and rich opportunities for students to perform research, interact with the community, build core skills, and sustain their pursuit of research as their career and passion. Specific aims of this proposal are to: (1) Plan, implement and evaluate a 10-week mentored undergraduate summer research program. Evaluation of student and mentor experiences will include collection of the following quantitative and qualitative data: (a) Pre- and post-program survey data to quantify changes in students’ view of science as a career, perceived learning, and awareness of future education and work in maternal and child health; (b) Pre- and post-program assessments of changes in students’ global and role- based self-efficacy; (c) Post-program structured interviews to assess students’ and mentors’ perspectives on students’ experiences and learning, program quality and need for improvements, and personal satisfaction; and (d) Portfolio-based qualitative evaluation of students’ skill development, including presentations on research and community experiences, and use of statistics, research ethics, and career resources; and (2) Contribute to the recruitment and development of a new generation of under-represented biomedical, behavioral and clinical researchers in maternal, child and family health. Evaluation will include: (a) Annual follow-up surveys to assess past students’ career development, perceived knowledge/skill, satisfaction with and endorsement of the program, and ideas for program improvement; and (b) Annual follow-up assessment of students’ educational and career accomplishments, tracked in the National Student Clearinghouse database currently utilized by UMass Boston.