Use the readings from this week to respond to the following:
- Use the interactive tool in the article,Advanced Coursework in Your Stateto see how your state rates regarding Black and Latino students pursuing advanced coursework. What might these findings suggest about the opportunities that underrepresented populations have to pursue careers in health care in your state?
- What aspects of the ChicagoCHEC program do you find useful in addressing underrepresentation?
- What observations have you noted regarding underrepresented populations in health care leadership roles and/or in your organization and how do your observations compare with Salsberg’s findings?
Improving Health Care Career Pipeline Programs for Underrepresented Students: Program Design that Makes a Difference Improving Health Care Career Pipeline Programs for Underrepresented Students: Program Design that Makes a Difference Shaneah Taylor, MPH1, Francisco Iacobelli, PhD2, Tracy Luedke, PhD3, Phoenix Alicia Matthews, PhD4, Melinda Monge, MA5, Jennifer Cooper, MPH1, Jonathan Moreira, MD6, Paul Grippo, PhD7, Jorge Girotti, PhD7, Yamile Molina, PhD8, Betina Yanez, PhD9, Melissa A. Simon, MD, MPH1,10, ChicagoCHEC Cancer Health Equity Collaborative 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; 2Department of Computer Science, Northeastern Illinois University; 3College of Arts and Sciences, Northeastern Illinois University; 4College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago; 5University of Illinois Cancer Center, University of Illinois at Chicago; 6Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; 7Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago; 8School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago; 9Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; 10Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University Abstract Background: Health care career pipeline training programs are one solution to increasing the number of minority and underrepresented health care providers. The Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC) Research Fellows Program, a tri-institutional effort between the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), and Northwestern University (NU), provides a holistic, 8-week summer research fellowship that facilitates self-reflection, professional development, and exposes and guides the novice undergraduate and postbaccalaureate student toward a health care career inclusive of research and scientific discovery. Correspondence to: Melissa A. Simon, MD, MPH, Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Preventive Medicine, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 633 N. St Clair, Suite 1800. Chicago, IL 60611. m-simon2@northwestern.edu; Phone: (312) 503-8780. Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (Collaborators): Christina Ciecierski, PhD Raymond Ruiz, MA Marian Fitzgibbon, PhD Robert Winn, MD HHS Public Access Author manuscript Prog Community Health Partnersh. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2020 January 27. Published in final edited form as: Prog Community Health Partnersh. 2019 ; 13(5): 113–122. doi:10.1353/cpr.2019.0044. A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript Objectives: The number of underrepresented students achieving health care careers is minimal. We outline curriculum development, innovation, lessons learned, and selected outcomes from the first three cohorts of the ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows program. Methods: A tri-institutional, collaborative curricular team was formed consisting of research faculty and staff at NEIU, UIC and NU. Once accepted, fellows experience a cohort model curriculum with particular emphasis to mindful inclusion of nontraditional students. The ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows Program uses evidence-based mentorship models, group reflection, and extensive program evaluation to continuously improve its program model. Conclusions: The 48 fellow alumni from the first 3 years reported high satisfaction with the program and will continued to be tracked for academic success. The ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows program will continue to provide academic and professional tools, sponsorship, and mentorship opportunities to underrepresented students as they progress toward health care careers. A program such as the ChicagoCHEC Fellows Program can serve as a useful model for increasing the number of minority researchers in health care careers. Keywords Pipeline program; health equity; partnership; health care career; underrepresented students The Excellence Gap is defined as the “differences between subgroups of students performing at the highest level of achievement.”1 Inequity in education is pervasive across all academic levels as it pertains to the underrepresented minority student. The foundation for career pipeline inequity begins at the elementary school level. For example, public schools have been cited as overlooking and underestimating African American and Hispanic students in terms of their ability to demonstrate rigor, with African American third graders one-half as likely as White students to be included in gifted programs.2,3 Such low representation then fuels additional disparities in educational achievement at the middle and high school levels, and further exacerbates high rates of attrition for minority students in the postsecondary, graduate, and postgraduate studies. In a 2018 report released by the National Science Foundation, African Americans earned only 6.6% of all doctoral degrees, approximately one-half of their proportion of the U.S. population.4 In addition to the widening excellence gap, there is also inequity as it pertains to the representation of minority students in health care fields. Health care career pipeline programming are one potential solution; however, despite the efforts of existing pipeline programs, minority students remain underrepresented in health care professions.5–7 Firstgeneration students who reside in poverty and violenceplagued neighborhoods often face tremendous challenges, both in their neighborhood and in the classroom. While striving to achieve academic and career success they have to cope with socioemotional, economic, and familial stressors.8 Although it is important to acknowledge the complexity of stressors that accompany students residing in volatile environments, it is equally crucial to ensure that underrepresented students are provided the same opportunities as their nonminority peers to advance in fields of choice. A 2015 report released by the Association of American Medical Colleges addressing the representation of African American men in medical school reiterates that high school juniors in a 2007 study also listed limited knowledge of career pathways Taylor et al. Page 2 Prog Community Health Partnersh. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2020 January 27. A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript and poor access to African American role models as barriers to pursuing medical careers.9,10 Research teams that spearhead pipeline programming targeting underrepresented students must take into account the decades of educational inequality that applicants to their programs might have encountered. Thoughtful programming that focuses on leveraging underrepresented student stressors as strengths instead of deficits, can contribute to building resilience and self-efficacy as it relates to a successful career trajectory. In addition, the design of such programs should account for building social support and professional resilience, and use team science approaches in which students are part of a group and not just in a traditional laboratory experience. Indeed, peer support is recognized as an important strategy to encourage minority students not only to excel in their academic endeavors but also to persist in their chosen career track.6 This and other best practices, for example, in admissions policy and institutional culture, have been shaped and further refined to foster diversity in the nation’s health care pipeline, in recognition of the importance of a diverse health care pipeline to realization of the goal of reducing health disparities in minority and other underrepresented populations.6, 11 CHICAGOCHEC RESEARCH FELLOWS PROGRAM The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Comprehensive Partnership to Advance Cancer Health Equity program (PACHE) has positioned NCI-designated Cancer Centers and institutions that serve underrepresented minorities to form partnerships that work to increase minority representation in cancer research careers. The ChicagoCHEC, a PACHE partnership between the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of NU, NEIU, and the UIC, started the ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows Program in 2016. The ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows program is a comprehensive, paid, 8-week summer learning experience and pipeline program for undergraduate and postbaccalaureate students that aims to support underrepresented students’ aspirations to become cancer researchers and medical professionals. The program seeks to enhance, academic, research, and professional skills. This article outlines the unique curriculum, program design elements, lessons learned, and selected outcomes from the first three years of the ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows Program. Particular emphasis will be placed on the program’s design, intentional mission to expose fellows to a variety of health care careers, and innovation in the program’s one cohort model. METHODS Program Development and Student Recruitment The ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows Program was designed to leverage the strengths of NU’s research community and rigor, UIC’s community engagement and pipeline programming, and NEIU’s strong foundation in education and access to diverse student populations. ChicagoCHEC’s program includes 1) the opportunity for students to engage in reflective dialogue and examine health inequities faced by their communities, 2) the leveraging of institutional resources to implement creative and didactic transdisciplinary lecturing, 3) encouraging participation of minority faculty and staff in multilayered/ Taylor et al. Page 3 Prog Community Health Partnersh. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2020 January 27. A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript multilevel mentorship and sponsorship and near peer mentorship, 4) partnering with existing institutional programs, thus creating an even more expansive network for the fellows, and 5) community immersion site visits to help ensure students are able to envision successful health care careers that move beyond a clinical setting and into the field. A tri-institutional program planning team consisting of research faculty and staff was formed across institutional sites to collaboratively develop objectives, curricular elements, and components for the program in line with the program’s core values and competencies (Figure 1). In an effort to remain consistent in targeting underrepresented undergraduate students, eligibility criteria for the program were specified and program spots were opened for NU, UIC, NEIU, and local community college students, with strong targeting of the Chicago community colleges. Emphasis was placed on moving students into successful and impactful health care careers, but also in moving students from a 2-year to a 4-year institution in the case of community college students. Eligibility criteria for the program specifies that students be a 1) rising sophomore, junior, or senior, at NEIU, UIC, or NU, or be enrolled at least half-time at one of the city colleges of Chicago or one of the community/junior colleges in the Chicago metropolitan area, or be a postbaccalaureate student within 2 years of graduation from their undergraduate institution. Students must also intend to apply to graduate or professional school. Community college students must intend to apply to a 4- year college and postbaccalaureate. Recruitment information was disseminated to a plethora of institutional and Chicago community partners, online job and internship boards at participating institutions, as well as the ChicagoCHEC website and social media. Staff attended on the ground campus recruitment via job fairs, and conducted recruitment application technical assistance workshops for participating institutions. To ensure individuals were well equipped for the application process, technical assistance application webinars were also developed and circulated to all program applicants. Each student application was reviewed by at least one team member from each institution and