Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 1;96(4):549-556.
doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003531.

Program Evaluation of the Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID): Impact on Career Development and Professional Society Diversity

Glenn Flores  1 , Fernando Mendoza  2 , Michael B Brimacombe  3 , Willie Frazier 3rd  4
Affiliations

Program Evaluation of the Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID): Impact on Career Development and Professional Society Diversity

Glenn Flores et al. Acad Med. .

Abstract

Purpose: Despite a demographic surge in U.S. minority children, pediatric workforce diversity has failed to keep pace. The study aim was to evaluate the Research in Academic Pediatrics Initiative on Diversity (RAPID), a research-education program aimed at recruiting, retaining, and professionally advancing diverse early-career faculty in general pediatrics who are pursuing research careers.

Method: RAPID includes the following components: small research grants, mentoring by nationally renowned senior investigators, mentoring and networking at an annual breakfast, an annual career-development conference, and monthly mentoring conference calls. Outcomes data from the first 5 years (2012-2017) of RAPID were analyzed. Data sources were Academic Pediatric Association (APA) membership data and postconference, baseline, and end-of-program/follow-up surveys. Outcome measures included mentoring quality, presentations, publications, subsequent grants, impact on career success, conference ratings, and APA membership diversity.

Results: For the 10 Scholars from the first 4 cohorts, mean scores were 4.5 (5 = strongly agree) for RAPID fostering mentoring, developing research skills, and helping Scholars feel more comfortable as underrepresented minority (URM) faculty; 78% delivered platform or poster presentations on their project. They published 56 total articles and received a mean of 2.5 subsequent grants. Their mean score for RAPID "advancing my career by facilitating promotion or getting a job" was 4.6. The first 4 RAPID Conferences were highly rated (mean scores = 4.2-4.8) and brought in 33 additional URM young investigators. Pre-RAPID, URM APA membership stagnated at 6%-7% for 5 years. In RAPID's first year, URM APA membership rose to 8%, then to 10% by 2017 (43% increase; P < .001).

Conclusions: RAPID Scholars generated multiple presentations and publications. RAPID mentoring and Conferences were highly rated. RAPID was associated with career advancement and increased professional society diversity. RAPID could serve as a national model for enhancing URM career development and professional society diversity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Frey WH. America’s Diverse Future: Initial Glimpses at the U.S. Child Population From the 2010 Census. 2011, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution; https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0406_census_diversi... . Accessed May 6, 2020.
    1. Vespa J, Medina L, Armstrong DM. Demographic Turning Points for the United States: Population Projections for 2020 to 2060. 2018, Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau; https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2020/demo... . Revised February 2020. Accessed May 6, 2020.
    1. Basco WT Jr, Cull WL, O’Connor KG, Shipman SA. Assessing trends in practice demographics of underrepresented minority pediatricians, 1993–2007. Pediatrics. 2010; 125:460–467.
    1. United States Census Bureau. American Community Survey: Children characteristics—2018 ACS 1-year estimates. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Children%20characteristics%20208&... . Accessed May 6, 2020.
    1. Association of American Medical Colleges. Table 3: U.S. Medical School Faculty by Rank and Race/Ethnicity, 2018. 2019, Washington, DC: Association of American Medical Colleges; https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-01/2018Table3.pdf . Accessed May 6, 2020.

Publication types

MeSH terms