Promoting Ethnic Diversity in Public Health Training

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an application to continue the previously funded doctoral training program, Promoting Ethnic Diversity in Public Health Training. This program focuses on students from population groups traditionally underrepresented (African American, Latino, American Indian) in the field of public health. The training program will continue to be located in the School's now well-established Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH). The main purpose of this minority training program is to increase and maintain the number of under-represented students who apply, enroll, and successfully complete doctoral studies at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. In order to build on and expand the success of the first funding period, the program is expanded in two ways. First, the program includes a new student development plan focused on master's students. Second, the program adds two departments (Environmental Health Sciences and Biostatistics) to the three departments (Epidemiology, Health Behavior and Health Education, Health Management and Policy) that comprised the program's first funding cycle. In addition, the program will now take a much more explicit substantive focus. That is, in addition to being members of the designated under-represented groups, students eligible for this program must also demonstrate an explicit interest in the study of racial and ethnic health disparities. This sharpened substantive focus is justified on the basis of the Nation's increasing emphasis on the need for public health research scientists working on racial and ethnic health disparities, and because so many health problems fall disproportionately on racial and ethnic minority groups. In terms of measurable objectives, the program will: 1) support ten doctoral students each year. Doctoral students will be supported on the training grant for two years and then be offered three years of funding by the Rackham Graduate School, thereby resulting in a five-year funding package; 2) support three new master's students each year, supporting them for two years, resulting in a steady enrollment of six master's students by year two of the new funding cycle. All supported students, both master's and doctoral, will be appointed as paid (salary, hourly wages) graduate research assistants. All students will be matched with faculty who will be responsible for employment, hands-on instruction, and quality mentoring.