This proposal describes a Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at Yale University that will provide eight URM baccalaureate graduates with a one-year program of faculty-mentored research training in the biomedical sciences and educational preparation for graduate school admission. The long-term goal of the proposed Yale PREP is to increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students pursuing doctoral studies in the biomedical sciences, especially at Yale. Yale PREP will recruit baccalaureate graduates from a wide range of colleges and universities but especially historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, and the University of Puerto Rico, as well as through an exciting new partnership between Yale and Chaminade University of Honolulu, a Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander serving institution. The goal of Yale PREP is to provide program participants with a foundation of knowledge, experiences, and skills necessary to be successful graduate students. Specific objectives for program participants are: 1) To experience life as a biomedical graduate student at a major research university, taking courses and receiving mentoring alongside first year PhD students. 2) To conduct, under supervision of a faculty mentor, an independent research project for which they ultimately take responsibility for planning and executing experiments, including formulating and testing hypotheses. 3) To study an educational curriculum that consists of GRE preparation, graduate school and career workshops, a research literature seminar course, a journal club covering health-disparities research, Yale courses, and research presentations. Program participants will devote 75% of their time to independent research and 25% to the educational curriculum. Expected outcomes for Yale PREP participants include improved laboratory skills, problem-solving abilities, biomedical research knowledge, and presentation skills. They will also demonstrate an increased commitment to biomedical research, which should ultimately culminate in the pursuit of the PhD degree. The impact of the proposed Yale PREP will be to expand the pool of exceptional doctoral students from underrepresented groups in the biomedical sciences and thus the diversity of perspectives needed to address important problems in human health and disease, including health disparities.
Yale University proposes to establish a Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) that will provide underrepresented minority baccalaureate graduates with faculty-mentored research training in the biomedical sciences and educational preparation for graduate school admission. The ultimate goal is to expand the pool of exceptional doctoral students from underrepresented groups in the biomedical sciences and the diversity of perspectives needed to address important problems in human health and disease, including health disparities.
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