An Institutional Approach to Student Diversity:

1

• An Institutional Approach to Student Diversity
• A Centralized Organization Structure which
  Retains Local Responsibility
• Richard McGee, Ph.D.
• Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Mayo Graduate
  School
• Director, Office of Minority Student Affairs,
  Mayo Clinic

2
Challenges faced in 1991

• Mayo Clinic not known as a graduate training
  program among minority or majority students
• No undergraduate school in Rochester
• Mayo Clinic not on the radar screen for minority
  students or faculty advisors
• Rochester was a small, homogeneous city
• Faculty and staff had little experience
  interacting with traditional underrepresented
  groups
• Minority enrollment close to zero

3
The Context - Mayo Clinic Rochester

• Location - Rochester, Minnesota
• Population 68,000 (now 86,0000) - otherwise rural
• Mayo Graduate School 120 PhD students
  (integrated core curriculum with 7 PhD fields)
• Mayo Medical School - 128 MD students (34/year)
• MD/PhD program 40 students (6/year)
• School of Health-Related Sciences 300 students
• Research postdocs - 350-400
• Graduate School of Medicine 900 clinical
  residents
• About 130 primary research faculty

4
Rochester is Rapidly Changing!

• Since 1990 Rochester has grown from 68,000 to
  86,000
• Minority population has grown from 6 to 13.7
• Public school minority students increased from
  8.9 to 18.7
• 22.1 minority students K-5
• 56 different first languages

5
Organizational Structure for Education at Mayo
Clinic

• Accredited PhD, MD and MS degree-granting
  authority
• Governing Body is the Education Committee -
  Includes Director for Education (Provost), Deans
  of each school, other faculty and administrators
• Each School governed by a Dean and a school
  Education Committee

6
Minority Student Affairs Began in 1991
Structure/Design

• Central Office of Minority Student Affairs -
  Virtual
• Coordinates activities across all four Mayo
  schools
• Primary focus on developing a pool of
  science-oriented students interested in research
  or clinical medicine
• Attendance at all major minority student meetings
  and relationships with minority-serving schools
• Series of developmental, non-degree programs to
  bring Mayo Clinic onto the radar screen of
  minority students
• Aggressive elevation of visibility (marketing)

7
Minority Student Affairs Began in 1991
Structure/Design

• Each School retains responsibility for sustaining
  an effort to recruit and promote success of
  underrepresented minority students
• No special programs for enrolled students -
  philosophy of meeting needs of all students with
  flexibility in curricula if needed and wherever
  possible
• Education leadership clear about the value and
  importance of diversity, and financial support
  for the Office and programs
• Faculty buy-in good but not universal

8
Minority Student Programs

• SURF program (70-100 students) usually has 25-30
  minority students
• Mayo Minority Scholars program - 2-year expanded
  SURF experience focused on Faculty Development
• Several summer programs for minority medical
  students to increase visibility and overall
  diversity
• Philosophy that overall diversity among students,
  residents and postdocs helps the graduate school

9
Mayo Clinic Initiative for Minority Student
DevelopmentTraining in Patient-Oriented and
Translational Research

• Funded since 1996 by NIGMS Minority Biomedical
  Research Support (MBRS-IMSD) program
• Currently funded at about 570,000/year
• Co-Directed by R. McGee, PhD and G. Poland, MD
• Mission is to guide student development toward
  basic and clinical research careers - and
  recruitment to Mayo!
• Hypothesis - some minority students more likely
  to persist toward research careers if they see
  the value of research
• Also trying to develop model for early
  identification and motivation of clinical
  investigators

10
IMSD Components

• Summer research for minority undergraduates
  (SURF) and medical students - key weekly group
  meeting
• Postbaccalaureate Research Assistantships - whole
  new model to increase minority student
  persistence toward research careers - about 10
  total/year
• Small number of pre-doc positions
• Fellowships (1 or 2 years) for medical students
  to complete Certificate or Masters in Clinical
  Research - 2-4/year
• Joint MD/PhD program with the University of
  Puerto Rico, School of Medicine - 1 with hopes
  for more

11
Postbaccalaureate Research Program(MARC-PREP now
available)

• For underrepresented minority students and others
  committed to minority health research issues - at
  least 10/year
• 1 or 2 years of research before PhD, MD/PhD or MD
  programs
• Paid as 75 Laboratory Technician (21,000 annual
  salary)
• Eligible for medical insurance and other employee
  benefits
• Core Curriculum plus options for other graduate
  courses
• - Clinical Research Protocol Development (lab
  research option)- 2 credits
• - Biostatistics in Clinical Research - 2 credits
• - Responsible Conduct of Research - 1 credit
• - Clinical Epidemiology - 1 credit (optional)
• For details see the poster - effective but plenty
  of challenges

12
So has it worked?

• Graduate School averaging about 12-15
  underrepresented minorities but highly variable
  from year to year
• Medical school averaging about 15
• MD/PhD - highly variable since so small
• Clinical residencies about 8-10
• Faculty supportive and open to student needs
• Very high fraction of students succeed

13
Other outcomes and benefits

• Mayo Graduate School has become much more visible
  among minority students and their advisors
• Providing students for T32 training grants in
  Molecular Neuroscience, Tumor Biology, Immunology