November 2024 SOCRA Source Journal - Journal - Page 63
welcoming, and fun environment,
as well as the PEDS CRS
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
(DEI) workgroup that has the goal
of sharing tools, resources, and
support amongst the PEDS CRS
team.
Professional development
A wealth of professional
development opportunities are
available within the University
of Minnesota. The 昀氀exibility of
this program and dedicated
time allotted for professional
development allows the
D-PRIME learner to explore
important tangential facets of
clinical research and medicine.
Examples of opportunities for
strengthening professional
development include shadowing
various health care professionals,
participating and learning about
community outreach, attending
workshops to develop tools for
advancing equity and diversity,
and attending seminars devoted
to specialty topics in medicine
and research. Importantly, the
D-PRIME learner has regularly
scheduled meetings with
mentors to create and implement
an individual education plan and
to evaluate and achieve evolving
long-term career goals.
Academic research
In the realm of academic
research, this program offers
the opportunity to interact with
clinician-scientists to develop
skills in the life cycle of clinical
studies as well as develop
research questions relevant to
human health. Speci昀椀cally, the
D-PRIME learner is encouraged
to develop an independent
research project and fully
investigate a topic of personal
interest. Throughout the span
of the program and this project,
the D-PRIME learner performed
a literature review of a topic of
interest, identi昀椀ed knowledge
gaps in the 昀椀eld, developed a
research question, created an
IRB application, collected data in
the form of a community survey,
compiled 昀椀ndings, submitted
an abstract and presented their
work at the Annual University
of Minnesota Department of
Pediatrics – Pediatric Research,
Education and Scholarship
Symposium (PRESS) as a capstone
project for the D-PRIME program.
Under the guidance of a clinicianscientist, unique mentorship
and support were provided
throughout the independent
research project process.
DISCUSSION
The Inaugural Learner’s
D-PRIME experience and DEI
in Clinical Research
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
in clinical research and medicine
was a major theme that grew
organically from the program and
intricately weaved together the
three elements of the program
structure described above. This
position grants the opportunity
and resources to learn about
clinical health care as a whole
while simultaneously working as
a clinical research coordinator.
Some examples of these
opportunities and resources
will be highlighted below.
I have felt that 昀椀rstgeneration and/or historically
underrepresented undergraduate
students often do not have
the social capital, resources,
昀椀nancial support and/or
network to obtain shadowing
and clinical experiences. This
perception and experience on
my part was a major motivation
for me to pursue the D-PRIME
program. From an early age, I
was heavily encouraged from
my parents to embark on a
career in healthcare. Moreover,
my upbringing in Rochester,
Minnesota—home to the Mayo
Clinic, a globally renowned
medical institution—suggested a
potential abundance of resources
and opportunities to catalyze
my professional aspirations in
the healthcare 昀椀eld. However,
my familial and social networks
lacked the connections that
would have facilitated the kind
of privileged opportunities and
access that many of my high
school peers, whose parents
were esteemed physicians and
researchers, enjoyed.
This reality continued into my
undergraduate years attending
the University of Minnesota –
Twin Cities—a world-renowned
teaching hospital. Despite
my efforts to pursue clinical
opportunities within the Twin
Cities, I encountered restrictions
and limitations on shadowing
experiences and discovered a
lack of systems in place to grant
undergraduate students access
to such experiences. Constrained
further by 昀椀nancial limitations to
pursue certi昀椀cations to become
a Certi昀椀ed Nursing Assistant
(CNA) or Emergency Medical
Technician (EMT), I redirected
my focus towards securing a
position as a student worker in
a bench-top research laboratory
after numerous cold calls and
applications. My initial plan was
to complete my undergraduate
degree and subsequently
embark on a gap year, seeking
a full-time position in a clinical
setting to obtain shadowing
and clinical experience before
applying to medical school. My
plans, however, quickly changed
as I graduated in the spring of
2020, the start of the COVID-19
pandemic. As hospitals restricted
personnel to only essential
employees, opportunities for
learners and observers like me
dwindled.
When the possibility of
participating in the D-PRIME
program arose, I jumped at
the chance. I had learned
about the D-PRIME program
application through networks
and connections I had formed
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