UF summer programs introduce minority students to health careers and research

Through two University of Florida summer programs, more than 50 students gained hands-on research experience or insight into the array of health-care professions.

The Health Care Summer Institute, offered to rising high school seniors, is designed to increase the number of minority students interested in pursuing a health career, as well as to teach skills to help participants have successful college careers. The National Institutes of Health Short-Term Research Training for Minority Students Program gives college, graduate and professional students the opportunity to conduct research and learn how scientific investigations are integrated into medical schools.

Now in its seventh year, the Health Care Summer Institute is sponsored by the UF College of Medicine’s Office of Minority Affairs, the region’s four Area Health Education Centers, Shands at UF Food and Nutrition Services, and Shands at UF Hospital Operations. Thirty-seven students participated in the program, offered during two three-week sessions in June and July.

Participating students explored health-care careers by attending various presentations and shadowing professionals in the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine. They also took an SAT preparation course.

“The students and their parents are very appreciative of this opportunity, including the SAT preparation course, that will prepare these youngsters for success in college,” said Donna Parker, M.D., the College of Medicine’s assistant dean for minority affairs.

The program is open to African-Americans, Mainland Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans, American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Pacific Islanders. The Association of American Medical Colleges has identified these groups as being underrepresented among health-care professionals. Students are selected based on grade point average, letters of recommendation and essays.

The eight-week NIH Short-Term Research Training for Minority Students Program, funded by a five-year NIH grant, is offered to students who are either in college and interested in attending medical school or already are attending medical school. Some students also are considering a career in biomedical research.

“The purpose of this program is to give young people a taste of research in the hope that it gives them a lifelong interest in conducting research,” said the grant’s principal investigator, M. Ian Phillips, Ph.D., D.Sc., who is UF’s associate vice president of research and graduate education. Phillips works with Beverly Vidaurreta Wright, Ph.D., the College of Medicine’s assistant dean for minority affairs, and Sara Galli, Ph.D., the grant’s research coordinator, to organize the program.

This year, 16 students were matched with volunteer faculty mentors from the colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Health Professions, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. The students conducted research in a variety of areas such as pharmacology, neuroscience, aging, gene therapy, physiology and health care administration.

Students receive a stipend, and their housing and travel expenses also are covered. They are selected based on academic standing, letters of recommendation, essays, and their commitment to and interest in research.