Minority Physicians and Research Careers: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：几十年来，美国国立卫生研究院已经认识到发展一支多样化的生物医学研究人员队伍的重要性。然而，人们对吸引URM医学院学生和医生进入研究职业的原因知之甚少。拟议的研究的主要目的是解决这一知识差距，更广泛的目标是为解决这一国家需求的干预措施提供信息。该项目将汇集一个多元化的、跨学科的研究人员和教育工作者团队，他们拥有丰富的经验和深度。与以往的非理论研究相比，我们建议应用一个备受推崇的社会科学模型——计划行为理论来指导本研究。该项目分为两部分：1)对哈佛医学院（HMS） 2009-2012年毕业班四组学生进行前瞻性研究（n=660）； 2)对1996-1999年毕业班完成所有培训后的四组哈佛医学院毕业生进行回顾性研究（n=703）。这项前瞻性研究利用了HMS之前计划的课程变化：随着2011届的入学，HMS的所有学生都将被要求完成一项指导的研究项目。我们建议研究按旧规定进入的最后两组和按新规定进入的前两组。此外，我们将在他们的临床前基础科学教育结束时和他们的主要临床学年结束时对四个队列中的每一个进行纵向调查。主要结果将是用于研究的努力的百分比，以学生的意图和毕业生报告的实际努力的形式。我们预测，对HMS文化的认同将与URM学生的研究职业选择密切相关；在新要求下，所有学生的研究职业意向都将更高；影响学生的因素在第二年末和第三年末是不同的。该项目有足够的统计能力来实现主要目标。为了克服前瞻性研究的固有局限性（可以研究意图而不是实际选择），回顾性调查将在同一所医学院的毕业生中并行进行。通过拥有关于选择动机的多个数据来源（学生和毕业生），以及关于意图和实际选择的数据，我们可以交叉验证我们的发现，并提供一个更清晰的图像，研究职业道路的决定因素受种族/民族背景，态度和先前经验的影响。我们的研究结果将指导未来如何吸引更多URM医学院学生从事生物医学和行为科学的研究工作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): For several decades, the National Institutes of Health has recognized the importance of developing a diverse workforce of biomedical researchers. Yet relatively little is known about the reasons that attract URM medical students and physicians to enter research careers. The proposed study has the primary aim of addressing this knowledge gap, with the broader goal of informing interventions to address this national need. The project will bring together a diverse, interdisciplinary team of researchers and educators with great depth and breadth of experience. In contrast to prior non-theoretical research efforts, we propose to apply a well-respected social science model, the Theory of Planned Behavior, to guide this research. The project has two parts: 1) a prospective study of four cohorts of Harvard Medical School (HMS) students from the entering classes of 2009-2012 (n=660), and 2) a retrospective study of four cohorts of HMS graduates after they have completed all their training, the graduating classes of 1996-1999 (n=703). The prospective study takes advantage a previously planned curricular change at HMS: With the entering class of 2011, all HMS students will be required to complete a mentored research project. We propose to study the last two cohorts entering under the old requirement and the first two cohorts under the new. Moreover, we will survey each of the four cohorts longitudinally, at the end of their pre-clinical basic science education and at the end of their principal clinical year. The primary outcome will be percentage of effort devoted to research, in the form of intentions for students and reported actual effort for graduates. We predict that identification with the HMS culture will be closely related to research career choice for URM students; that research career intentions will be higher for all students under the new requirements; and that the factors that affect students will be different at the end of their second year versus third year. The project has sufficient statistical power to address the major aims. To overcome an inherent limitation of the prospective study (intentions rather than actual choices can be studied), the retrospective survey will be conducted in parallel on graduates of the same medical school. By having multiple data sources (students and graduates) about motives for choice, as well as data about both intentions and actual choices, we can cross-validate our findings and offer a clearer picture of the determinants of research career paths as affected by racial/ethnic background, attitudes, and prior experience. Our findings will guide future programs on how to attract more URM medical students into research careers in biomedical and behavioral sciences. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There is a great need to increase the number of under-represented minority group members who pursue careers in biomedical and behavioral science research. This project will survey medical school students and graduates to determine the reasons that encourage and discourage this career path in order to inform future interventions.