Paper
Thursday, July 12, 2007
MHIRT Program: Innovation in Family Health Research Training with Underserved Populations
Kathryn Hoehn Anderson, PhD, ARNP, LMFT, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA and Marie-Luise Friedemann, RN, PhD, College of Nursing and Health Studies, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
In the Minority International Research Training program at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, nursing faculty partner with international faculty at the “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy; National University of Colombia, Bogota; Institute of Psychiatry, London, and the Private University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany to provide USA minority undergraduate and graduate nursing and health science students with international research training focused on research about disparities care of chronic illness patients and families. Once selected, students become part of a faculty research team, choose a topic of interest within the area of health disparity in chronic illness care, and continue their study in a European or Latin American country with an international mentor. They take additional research courses, are mentored in research throughout their educational program, and contribute to dissemination of the collaborative research toward promotion of a research career. This symposium will share an overview of MHIRT program and describe student preparation for developing research skills and for international study. The international faculty partners in Europe will describe their research and education experience with the first six MHIRT scholars during their exchange at the Institute of Psychiatry, London; La Sapienza University of Rome; and the Private University of Witten-Herdecke, Germany; as well as the research project in Latin America to begin in summer 2007. The symposium will describe student involvement in chronic illness and family health projects with underserved populations at each site and address the strategies to facilitate student research learning, adjustment to the culture of another country, benefits, and barriers. The symposium participants will describe the benefits of their collaboration and provide strategies for educators to stimulate student interest in research and for researchers to productively involve students early in a research career. Each presenter will conclude with how the MHIRT program facilitated cross-cultural research excellence and learning.