Increasing minority representation in the health professions

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Disparities
• Health Workforce Diversity

Background:

• Health disparities persist, potentially exacerbated by underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in health occupations.
• Health career pathway programs are crucial for addressing this gap by engaging underrepresented student populations.
• Targeting immigrant and ethnic minority students is a key strategy to diversify the future health workforce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Cross-Cultural Education in Public Health (CCEPH) program.
• To determine if CCEPH participation increases immigrant students' interest in health care careers.
• To assess the program's impact on academic self-efficacy and career consideration.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 72 immigrant high school students participated in the CCEPH program.
• The program was designed based on Bandura's theory of self-efficacy.
• Pre- and postprogram surveys measured academic self-efficacy and health career consideration.

Main Results:

• While academic self-efficacy did not show statistically significant changes, interest in health care careers increased substantially among participants.
• The CCEPH program demonstrated a positive impact on students' consideration of health-related professions.
• The findings suggest that targeted programs can effectively boost career exploration in health fields.

Conclusions:

• Programs like CCEPH show promise in increasing health career consideration among immigrant and ethnic minority students.
• Further research is needed to confirm the impact on self-efficacy.
• These initiatives are vital for reducing health disparities through workforce diversification.