The number of underrepresented minority students entering into medicine, nursing, and related health care disciplines is declining. To illustrate, in the past 5-6 years, the number of underrepresented minority students entering into our medical college has dropped by about 82% (from 50 in 1998 to 9 in 2002). This gradual decline in enrollment is not unique to our medical college, for it is observed in many institutions of higher education across the nation. A similar trend is also witnessed in graduate education programs. One key approach that could be adopted to reverse this trend is to involve underrepresented minority students in biomedical and behavioral research during the course of their undergraduate education. Drexel University College of Medicine (Drexel Med) has been educating students in biomedical sciences for over 150 years. Its recent merger with Drexel University, a respected leader in engineering and computer sciences, has unveiled yet additional opportunities. At Drexel Med, we have the required experience and the expertise to successfully initiate and implement summer research programs. We currently have three programs which offer short-term summer research training opportunities to local high school, undergraduate, and medical students. These successful programs serve as an archetype for initiating, in partnership with NHLBI, similar research opportunities for underrepresented minority students in undergraduate and graduate programs in various schools and colleges within Drexel University and at Cheyney University - the oldest black historical university in the country. Since the primary goal of NHLBI is to support research in the areas of cardiovascular, pulmonary, blood, and sleep disorders, minority students enrolled under this training grant will be assigned to one of the many (> 19) investigators in basic and clinical departments who are working in areas of similar interests. We believe that by providing such an opportunity to underrepresented minority students in undergraduate and graduate programs, we will not only enrich their academic experience but would also facilitate their entry and retention into health care related professional pathways. This outcome would meet the growing needs of our racially divergent communities and help alleviate the existing discord between the representation of minorities in the general populace as compared to that in the health care profession.
