Studies of minority access to higher education have generally shown that minority students have more barriers to overcome in matriculating than do non-minority students. In 2005, Delaware State University and the Neuroscience program at Drexel University College of Medicine formed a partnership to try to overcome barriers to minority students successfully entering and completing PhD programs. In 2006 they began a joint DSU-Drexel dual-degree MS-PhD graduate program in neuroscience that has seen its first students transition from DSU to Drexel in fall of 2008. The objective of the current partnership is to expand the dual-degree graduate program from just neuroscience the program to link all biomedical M.S. programs at DSU with the biomedical Ph.D. programs at Drexel Medical School. The project includes the following specific aims: 1) To increase the number of minority students graduating from DSU with an M.S. in biomedical science from 1 - 3 per year to 5 - 7 per year;2) To increase the number of Biomedical MS graduates continuing on to PhD programs from 1 - 2 per year to 3 to 5 per year;3) To strengthen the M.S. programs in the Department of Biology at DSU so that all graduates qualify for advanced status in Drexel's biomedical Ph.D. programs;4)To increase the percentage of under-represented minority graduate students in biomedical PhD programs at Drexel from 9 to 20. A key component of the project will be upgrading the videoconferencing capabilities and infrastructure at DSU so that Drexel courses and seminars can be delivered effectively by videoconference. To meet these objectives, this program will build on the model of the successful neuroscience dual degree program and expand it to include two other Biomedical Ph.D. programs that train a large number of PhD students at Drexel Med: Molecular and Cell Biology &Genetics;and Microbiology and Immunology. A task force of DSU faculty and the faculty directors for the Drexel Biomedical Graduate Programs will meet to develop a curriculum for the M.S. component of the program that will prepare students to enter the PhD program with advanced status. Like the neuroscience program, the curriculum for the biomedical linked- degree program will include participation in classes, graduate seminars and other graduate program offerings at Drexel starting from the first semester that students are in the program. Like the neuroscience program, we plan that over the course of the program, DSU Biology M.S. students will take at least two Drexel courses through a combination of videoconferencing and live attendance, and that every MS student in the program will have a Drexel faculty advisor who will serve on his or her thesis committee. DSU Biology M.S. students will also have the opportunity to conduct lab rotation and thesis research projects in Drexel laboratories. By the end of the program we expect to have: 1) increased the number of students from underrepresented groups who enter biomedical MS programs with the intent to enter a PhD program and pursue a career in research;2) established developmental activities that will help MS students in biomedical sciences more easily make the transition to PhD programs;and 3) strengthened DSU's graduate courses and research training to give students in biomedical MS programs the knowledge and skills that will allow them to be successful in PhD programs. Public Health Relevance Statement: This program will help increase the number of minority students who enter and complete PhD programs in Biomedical Science by: 1) Creating a graduate education partnership between DSU and the Biomedical Ph.D. programs at Drexel University that will strengthen biomedical graduate programs at DSU, an HBCU;2) Building the academic and research skills of minority graduate students who are interested in pursuing an advanced degree, but are not ready to enter a PhD program;3) Fostering interest in pursuing a PhD by involving graduate students in research training and mentoring at a first rate medical school.
This program will help increase the number of minority students who enter and complete PhD programs in Biomedical Science by: 1) Creating a graduate education partnership between DSU and the Biomedical Ph.D. programs at Drexel University that will strengthen biomedical graduate programs at DSU, an HBCU;2) Building the academic and research skills of minority graduate students who are interested in pursuing an advanced degree, but are not ready to enter a PhD program;3) Fostering interest in pursuing a PhD by involving graduate students in research training and mentoring at a first rate medical school.
