The Stueber Scholarship: A Philanthropy-based Summer Research Program to Improve Plastic Surgery Exposure and Research in Underrepresented Minorities
Michael Ha, MA Cantab MB BChir1, Ledibabari M. Ngaage, MA Cantab MB BChir2, Caroline Smith, BS1, Nelson H. Goldberg, MD1, Sheri Slezak, MD1, Kristin Stueber, MD1, Yvonne M. Rasko, MD1.
1University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, 2Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
PURPOSE: Diversity among plastic surgery residents lags behind other medical specialties. Research productivity can increase the competitiveness of a candidate's application and enhance their chances of a successful residency match. The authors proposed a philanthropic approach to improve the competitiveness of underrepresented-in-medicine applicants to plastic surgery programs.
METHODS: In 2014, the authors' institution implemented the "Scholarship Program", created and financed from the charitable donations of a single alumnus. This is a 10-week research scholarship for medical students. All past Scholars completed questionnaires on their experience of the scholarship. The authors then performed a bibliometric analysis on each scholar using Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar to identify published articles since the scholarship and up to the point of residency application.
RESULTS: Over 8 years, 15 medical students have completed the Scholarship. All Scholars reported being very satisfied with their experience. There was a 1:4 male:female ratio, and 73% of students were from underrepresented minorities. Only 13% of Scholars had a parent who was a physician. The most common reason for applying to the scholarship was to "gain exposure to plastic surgery" (100%), followed by "strengthen a future match application" (80%). On average, each Scholar achieved 1.2 research awards, 5.9 publications, and 6.1 presentations after participation in the scholarship.
CONCLUSION: The paucity of diversity in the medical field is a complex issue without a single panacea. This article demonstrates the impact of a summer program funded by philanthropy. Medical students from underrepresented minorities had remarkable increases in their research productivity and accolades.
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