Nursing College Receives $2.5M Grant to Diversify Health Care Workforce

CINCINNATI—The Pathways for Emerging Healthcare Leaders Program, developed by the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing as a joint initiative among several UC colleges and community partners, has been awarded a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the Office of Minority Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

The new program, led by Greer Glazer, PhD, dean of the College of Nursing, and Karen Bankston, PhD, associate dean for clinical practice, partnership and community engagement, will build on an initiative started by the College of Nursing three years ago in which the college partnered with six high schools in the Cincinnati urban core to support college readiness and programming to strengthen student retention among college freshman and sophomores in the health professions. That initial program, however, showed that beginning work with students even earlier—in the ninth instead of 11th grade—could help get more young people actively interested in the health professions as a career. 

The new program will target underrepresented racial/ethnic and disadvantaged students beginning in the ninth grade with the joint goal of preparing students for success and increasing the number of future health professionals from underrepresented groups. 

"We know that these students often don’t get exposed or get the opportunity to do some of the things that others may have been able to do to be successful. This work provides us an opportunity to work not only with the student, but also with their parents to help them be prepared for college when they are seniors,” Bankston says. "At the same time, although the patient population in our community—and nationally—is very diverse, the pool of health professionals is not, and research shows that patients experience better outcomes with providers who understand them and are culturally competent and sensitive.” 

The multifaceted program will take a hands-on approach to showing students career options in health care by developing a four-year academy designed to improve college readiness for both students and parents. The program will also provide support to teachers to further help students gain the skill set they need to succeed in any health care degree through particular focus on science and math. On campus components of the program include summer health professions camps and a summer bridge program. 

The College of Nursing leads the team effort, which consists of all the UC Academic Health Center colleges (College of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine and the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy), as well as UC’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, the Learning Assistance Center and local partners—a shared commitment that reflects the Academic Health Center’s continued dedication to the community. The primary partner school for the first phase of the grant is Hughes STEM High School. 

"This program isn’t just about getting more individuals interested in pursuing a health care career,” Glazer says. "It’s about getting a diverse pool of students with leadership potential into the field in order to positively impact patient and community care.”