Education Commons^™

Preparing Historically Underrepresented Trainees For Biomedical Cancer Research Careers At Huntsman Cancer Institute/University Of Utah Health., Ana Maria Lopez, Md, Mph, Macp, José E Rodríguez, Kathryn Browning Hawes, Anna Marsden, Don Ayer, Donna Harp Ziegenfuss, Kola Okuyemi

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Given the well-documented inequities in health care outcomes by race, ethnicity, and gender, many health career pipeline programs have focused on supporting the development of a diverse and inclusive workforce. The State of Utah, is vast, but sparsely populated outside the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. More than 96% of our nearly 85,000 square miles is designated rural (<100 people/square mile) or frontier (<7 people/square mile). The Salt Lake City area is home to the Hunsman Cancer Institute, the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the region, also noted the limited diversity in the biomedical cancer research workforce. Our primary objective was to increase the number of underrepresented trainees who pursue higher education with the goal of a career in cancer research. PathMaker is a regional, competitive pipeline program that nurtures high school or undergraduate trainees from historically underrepresented backgrounds towards a career in cancer research. Our faculty and staff team collaboratively developed a cohort model curriculum that increased student awareness of research …