Prevalence of health professional students at a Midwestern college of health professions who attended a high school biomedical program
Citation
Dennill, Kameshni, Muma, Richard D. (2008). Prevalence of health professional students at a Midwestern college of health professions who attended a high school biomedical program . In Proceedings: 4th Annual Symposium: Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University, p.113-114
Abstract
To address the shortage of healthcare professionals nationwide, high schools across the nation have
introduced biomedical programs into their curriculum to draw students into the health career track; in particular minority
and underrepresented students who represent a large untapped resource of potentially eligible healthcare students. In order
to determine the magnitude of such programs in Kansas, 1,358 individuals were surveyed who were either current or past
healthcare students in a Midwestern college of health professions. Methodology: A 16 question survey, collected
respondents’ demographic information, whether they participated in a high school biomedical program, and their
perceptions of the program (if a participant). If appropriate the respondents were also asked to rate their biomedical
program in terms of curriculum, healthcare insight gained, clinical experience, and student counseling. Results: The survey
response rate was 17.7% (n=241). 7% (n=18) of the respondents participated in a high school biomedical program. Of
those students who participated in a biomedical program, 94% went on to major in healthcare during college.
Demographically, the majority of respondents were White (89.2%) and female (86.3%) with little representation of minority
and underrepresented students. Conclusion: Overall it appears that only a small percent of the pre-professional and
professional healthcare students at a Midwestern college of health professions attended a biomedical program in high
school; however, those who did, a majority (94%) found the programs to be beneficial in preparing them for a career in
healthcare.
Description
Paper presented to the 4th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, Wichita State University, April 25, 2008.
Research completed at the Department of Physician Assistant, College of Health Professions