Start Spreading the News: South Bronx Students Come to Miami to Learn About Medical Research
Article Summary
- The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) partners with local Miami high schools to identify and recruit candidates into careers in medical research.
- Administrative Director Santos Cayetano invited a group of students from his alma mater, South Bronx High School, to visit the Miller School.
- Cayetano says that research should reflect all members of the community and believes his program contributes to that goal.
Santos Cayetano, administrative director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) in the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Office of Graduate Studies, understands the challenge of attracting students to careers in biomedical research.
“Especially students from diverse backgrounds who don’t get exposure,” he said.
To encourage students to explore the medical field, the MSTP program partners with local Miami high schools to identify and recruit candidates into careers in medical research.
You Can Go Home
This year, Cayetano forged a relationship with his alma mater, South Bronx High School in New York City. In May, a cohort of students from the South Bronx visited the Miller School, where they observed researchers, met with scientists, learned about career paths and spoke with graduate students.
“M.D./Ph.D. students talked to the kids and shared their experience,” said Cayetano. “They say, ‘This is why I’m here. This is how I got here. This is why you should consider this.’”
The South Bronx students were selected based on academic achievement and physical fitness, and paid their own way to Miami.
“They are required to be at the top of their class,” said Cayetano, adding that most aren’t thinking about college. “They are usually first generation.”
They tend to see the world through the eyes of their parents and their older siblings.
Seeing How Science Research Works
Back in 2014, Cayetano launched a 10-week summer program, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), that created a pathway for undergraduates who might not otherwise consider medical research as a career. The students were mentored by faculty and graduate students.
Their participation in research and exposure to professional development panels gave them exposure to students getting Ph.D. training. SURF has grown to include 30 students annually and is now a collaboration between the Office of Graduate Studies and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Cateyano’s work with MSTP seems to be having its desired effect, based on notes he received after the South Bronx students’ visit.
Although college isn’t my first option after high school, the tours opened my eyes to new opportunities.
Thanks to you, I think I’ll be putting U Miami as a school on my list.
Thank you for the wisdom you gave me.
Tomorrow’s Researchers and Scientists
Cayetano was the first in his family to attend college. He was fortunate as a teen to have a mentor and role model, Lou Schlanger, his high school coach.
“Lou was a father figure,” he said. “He listened to our challenges and encouraged us to avoid negative influences by staying in the physical fitness program and focusing on academics.”
Cayetano said that outreach is key to ensure that the clinicians and researchers of tomorrow resemble the individuals in the community.
“Research is limited if it only targets a segment of the population,” he said. “We want to ensure that medical treatment is based on real knowledge and that individuals from different pathways are contributing to that knowledge.”
Tags: Medical Scientist Training Program, Office of Graduate Studies, student research