Abstract
The ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity of the USA is not reflected in its healthcare and biomedical workforce. Undergraduate research programs are used to encourage underrepresented minorities to pursue training for biomedical careers, but there is limited published data on doctoral degree completion rates by participants in these programs. This study evaluates the attainment of doctoral degrees by a NIH-funded cohort of undergraduates from the 1998–2002 Baylor College of Medicine’s Summer Medical Research Training (SMART) program. Variables collected included race, ethnicity, gender, tier status of undergraduate institution, and terminal degree status. The majority of cohort participants were underrepresented minorities, while the rest were socio-economically underserved, or first generation college students. Of the 163 participants, 65 (56%) were confirmed to have completed doctoral level biomedical or healthcare degrees: 48 MDs (41%), 22 PhDs (19%), 4 MD/PhDs (3%), and 1 PharmD (1%). There was no statistical significant difference in doctoral degree attainment based on gender, ethnicity, or tier status of participants. The completion rates of doctoral degrees by underrepresented minority participants (65%) in this program exceeds that of underrepresented minority graduate students (38%) and that of non-minority graduate students (51%) nationally based on National Science Foundation data for US citizens and permanent residents, suggesting that this 9-week summer research experience provides a pathway for underrepresented minorities to successfully attain the doctoral degrees required for careers in the health sciences.
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