# Presentation: 060017

- 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

## 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

## 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

## 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**

## 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

## 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)

## 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

## 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

## Mayo Clinic Initiative for Minority Student DevelopmentTraining 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

## 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

## 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

## 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

## 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