The goal of the project described in this proposal is to increase the number of underrepresented minority students who enter career tracks in the pharmaceutical sciences. The objective of this project is to establish a means for providing minority students from the Tampa Bay/Hillsborough County, Florida area with the knowledge base and appropriate skills necessary attain the Associate in Arts (AA) degree and to successfully compete with others in obtaining an entry-level degrees in the pharmaceutical sciences at Florida A&M University. This objective will be met by establishing an innovative recruitment strategy for attracting at least 30 minority applicants with interests in the physical, natural or biomedical sciences; providing a structure to improve learning and interpersonal skills, developing confidence, and demonstrating professional behavior; providing financial support and/or identifying resources and the skills to access those resources; preparing students for the new college environment with pre-college activities and counseling; establishing academic support initiatives, including tutorial, mentoring, advising and modeling activities; and tracking students' progress and making programmatic adjustments when necessary to continue to meet the goal of the BRIDGES project. This program will be instrumental in increasing the chances of successful completion of the curriculum at the FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences by BRIDGES participants, and may serve to increase the number of minorities in post-graduate studies in the biomedical sciences as well.
