The K-12 Teacher Initiative and Student Research Program at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine is designed to provide inservice middle and high school science teachers and high school students exposured to and experience in a contemporary research and clinical environment for up to eight weeks during a structured summer session, along with opportunities to continue research and other collaborative activities during the academic year. The program is targeted to persons who belong to ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in biomedical science research careers; and in the case of teachers participants, science teachers belonging to other ethnic groups who teacher a substantial number (>60%) of students belonging to underrepresented groups. The summer program provides a comprehensive research and affective experience. The resources of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Children's Hospital Medical Center and Research Foundation, and affiliated research and clinical facilities will be used as training sites. The program features more than 90% actual research laboratory time each day under the supervision of an extramurally funded faculty preceptor combined with didactic and experiential professional development components. The latter include: discussion of ethical topics in research and medicine; weekly research in progress laboratory meetings; laboratory journals; professional career pathways discussions; introduction to research concepts; exposure to basic and clinical research careers, participation in an end of program research symposium; submission of a research paper; and orientation to regulatory guidelines surrounding the conduct of research and clinical care. the academic year program includes continuation of the research experience on a part time basis for half of the program participants. All inservice science teachers will enter collaborative programming arrangements with the College of Medicine, with expected activities to include faculty assistance in developing laboratory skills manuals and curriculum development, mentoring programming, faculty teaching science/laboratory modules to students in the classroom, attendance at secondary schools careers fairs and science days/fairs, and specially arranged opportunities for secondary school students to visit programs and activities at the medical center. Applicants recruited from the Cincinnati metropolitan area, focusing on those secondary schools with significant ethnic minority student enrollments. The impact of the program on the participants, their career choices, increase in research skill level and/or incidence of collaborative programming with the medical center will be determined through analysis of recruitment, program end and annual survey responses. Evaluation of the program content will be made annually by review of comments solicited from participants, preceptors and those in other roles in the program.
