The University of Arizona's Initiatives to Maximize Student Diversity

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Arizona (UA) seeks to continue and expand the effective implementation of a comprehensive training program to increase the number of underrepresented minority students (URMs) who enter and successfully complete doctoral degrees in the biomedical sciences. It has two components: (1) an IMSD Scholars Program providing fellowships, tuition, health insurance, a "survival skills" seminar, travel to a national conference, and ongoing special mentoring and follow-up to 10 URMs per year admitted to one of 16 biomedical graduate programs at UA;and (2) a Minority Health Disparities Summer Research Opportunities Program (MHD/SROP) matching 8 UA undergraduates with experienced UA faculty to conduct full-time biomedical research for 10 weeks and learn how to prepare for graduate school and how to put together a strong graduate application. MHD/SROP also offers a weekly seminar on Minority Health Disparities because this theme has been shown by the earlier grants to greatly motivate URM students to pursue biomedical careers. Since many of our IMSD Scholars are now engaged in dissertation research related to health disparities, in this new grant we also propose to investigate how this motivates graduate URMs to finish a Ph.D. Participating students will be selected by an Advisory Committee and the Project Director and Coordinator will ensure that all NIH regulations and program requirements are met. Comprehensive program evaluations will be completed yearly by an independent evaluator. First funded in 2001, our IMSD program has helped increase by five-fold the number of URMs pursuing biomedical Ph.D.s at UA, from 16 in the year 2000 (prior to the IMSD grant) to 81 students in Fall 2007. 61 students have participated in the IMSD Scholars program during their first year of the Ph.D. and the other 20 have been supported by other training sources. Ten additional students are currently being considered for graduate admission and IMSD participation in Fall 2008. Three have already received a Ph.D. and 53 others are making satisfactory progress. Several of the Scholars would not have been admitted to the Ph.D. without IMSD support, yet they show an 87% retention rate, a much higher rate than that reported of students in the life sciences nationwide (62% according to CGS, 2005). All the Scholars who are not pursuing the Ph.D. have completed or are presently completing terminal degrees. The MHD/SROP has trained 205 undergraduates since 2001, including 54 UA MARC students, 50 of whom are already enrolled in biomedical Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. programs.