This proposal requests continued support of a grant for short-term research training experiences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) for minority medical students. The Summer Research Program for Minority Medical Students (SRP/MMS) provides 10-12 week laboratory and patient-oriented research apprenticeships for minority medical students during the summer following their first year of medical school. Six major factors support the continued success and planned expansion of the program: (1) increased numbers of underrepresented minority students choosing to matriculate into the MUSC College of Medicine; (2) partnership with the University of South Carolina (USC) School of Medicine in Columbia to extend the program to underrepresented minority medical students enrolled at both institutions, i.e., all minority medical students in the entire state; (3) a plan to enhance role modeling by linking students in the program into research relationships with highly qualified minority junior faculty and research fellows and strong senior mentors; (4) commitment of the new dean of the College of Medicine, a highly respected anesthesiologist/researcher with a track record of NIH-funded research in post-cardiac surgery outcomes; (5) a new 5-year Diversity Plan for the College of Medicine that is already producing significant results in terms of improved matriculation rates and increased minority representation; and (6) outstanding progress in institutional research competitiveness and research funding. The program builds on institutional strengths involving an extensive cadre of outstanding basic science and clinical research faculty members who are collaborative and well-funded by NHLBI, other NIH institutes and other peer-review sponsors; an MUSC portfolio of complementary undergraduate, short-term health professional, doctoral and postdoctoral training programs supported by NHLBI, other NIH institutes, other peer review sponsors, and institutional funds; and an active, expanding South Carolina Cardiovascular Research Consortium between MUSC and USC.
The specific aims are to: (1) Attract talented and highly motivated minority medical students into careers in biomedical research in cardiovascular, pulmonary or hematologic function and disease; (2) Expand the pool of eligible participants by recruiting students from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine as well as MUSC to participate in the program; (3) Encourage increased awareness of research methods and results as a fundamental skill in the practice of medicine; (4) Stimulate further interaction between research programs and clinical services, especially with regard to diseases that disproportionately affect the large African American population served by MUSC; and (5) Provide a forum where accomplished investigators can act as role models by sharing their enthusiasm and biomedical research expertise with minority students interested in cardiovascular, pulmonary, hemostatic and related diseases.
