On Thursday, July 30, a group of students, all from underrepresented groups and enrolled at UM or other South Florida undergraduate nursing education programs, presented posters developed from their summer experiences of being paired with UM SONHS faculty scientists. By designing and presenting scientific posters at a formal session, the students participated in an established professional ritual of the real-world research environment. Standing by their posters, just as scientists do at professional conferences worldwide, the students shared knowledge gained from local summer mentorships under world-renowned health disparities researchers, all SONHS faculty members. The program was funded by a Florida Blue Foundation grant to increase diversity and enrollment in nursing Ph.D. programs.
On Friday, July 31, SONHS students returning from 10-week global health disparities research experiences dispersed across four countries and three continents presented their work in a poster presentation and reception. The posters depicted concepts and discoveries attained by selected SONHS nursing, public health and health sciences undergraduates from underrepresented populations who were selected for opportunities to assist internationally renowned researchers with their health disparities research projects in Australia, Chile, Dominican Republic, and Spain. The budding scientists presented the findings of the international studies in which they participated, all focused on some aspect of health disparities. The initiative was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIH/NIMHD) International Research Training (MHIRT) mechanism.
The summer research programs represent the School of Nursing and Health Studies’ partnerships with federal agencies and private foundations to address national mandates to diversify the healthcare scientists workforce and increase the number of Ph.D.-prepared nurses. Studies reveal that undergraduate research opportunities benefit students in terms of success in applying to and completing graduate degree programs.
“We are proud to partner with the NIH/NIMHD and Florida Blue to give our students opportunities to experience global and local research environments under world-class mentorship, and to meet IOM report benchmarks in Florida and throughout the nation.” said SONHS Dean Nilda Peragallo Montano. “This is the generation of scientists that will decrease, and ultimately eliminate, health disparities.”
