New Century Scholars
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The Academic Pediatric Association New Century Scholars Program is a mentorship program aimed at increasing the diversity of the academic general pediatric workforce
Rationale:
- Racial and ethnic disparity in child health and health care is an increasingly important issue, particularly as US demographics become more diversified.
- One approach to decreasing racial/ethnic disparities is to increase the number of minority pediatricians working in academic settings (i.e., education, research and clinical care)
- One way to increase minority recruitment into academic careers is to provide role models and mentors to pediatric trainees during the time when career plans are being formed.
APA NCScholars© Program:
- The program selects under-represented minority (URM) pediatric residents who have interest in pursuing careers in academic general pediatrics or related fields (e.g., behavior/developmental pediatrics, adolescent medicine) to become NCScholars©.
- NCScholars© are recruited in the second year of residency, and continue in the program through the end of residency, as long as they remain in good standing.
- NCScholars© are matched with junior and senior mentors who provide ongoing support to the scholar during residency, career planning, fellowship application process, and onward.
- Junior Mentors: Fellows in training programs and junior faculty who have interests in the areas of racial/ethnic child health disparities, cultural competency, and minority child health and development, and who have a commitment to mentorship and the program goals.
- Senior mentors: APA members who are educators or researchers working in the fields of racial/ethnic child health disparities, cultural competency, and minority child health and development, who have strong mentorship abilities and who have a commitment to mentorship and the program goals.
- NCScholars© and their mentors meet during the annual PAS meetings, and continue contact throughout the year through email and phone.
- NCScholars© receive a travel grant to attend the annual PAS meetings (including travel, room, and registration fees)
- NCScholars© attend a special one day conference the day before the PAS meeting.
- A dinner banquet is held honoring the NCScholars©, attended by APA leadership, fellowship directors, and guests.
- NCScholars© are in contact with mentors and Program staff throughout the PAS meeting.
- It is required that all NCScholars attend the annual PAS meetings and the New Century Scholars Conference the day before the PAS begins. Residency programs are asked to help with residency scheduling so that the NCScholar may attend.
- Ongoing activities:
- NCScholars© are provided free membership in the APA during their residency
- Career counseling by program directors and mentors
- Website and Listserv for NCScholars©
- Support during fellowship application and post-residency career planning
PROGRAM STAFF:
Director:
Lee Pachter, DO
Lpachter@ccmckids.org
860-545-8246)
Co-Director:
Cheryl Kodjo, MD, MPH
Cheryl_Kodjo@URMC.Rochester.edu
Coordinator:
Jennifer Padilla
Jennifer@academicpeds.org
Download the Program Description
New Century Scholars Program
August 2009 Newsletter Article
The APA New Century Scholars Program is about to begin its sixth year. NCScholars is a mentorship program developed to increase workforce diversity in academic pediatrics. The program selects under-represented minority pediatric residents who are interested in pursuing academic careers and matches them with a junior and senior mentor, who help guide the NCScholar as he/she plans a post residency academic career.
NCScholars and mentors meet together at the annual PAS meetings (NCScholars receive a travel grant to attend the PAS, as well as complementary membership in the APA, thanks to the APA and our funder, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health). A one-day NCScholars conference is organized for the day before the PAS officially begins. During the PAS meetings NCScholars are in contact with their mentors and the program directors. After the PAS NCScholars are in regular contact with their mentors and the program directors through email, phone, and Listserv.
The program has been extremely successful to date. Graduates of the program have entered fellowships in academic general pediatrics, behavioral/developmental pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and neonatology, have been post-doc research fellows and clinical scholars, and have become faculty members at medical schools and hospitals throughout the country.
We are presently seeking applicants for the 2010 class of NCScholars, as well as looking for Junior and Senior Mentors for the program:
- New Century Scholars (NCScholar) Applicants:
We are seeking 2nd year pediatric residents who are from under-represented minority groups (e.g., African American, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, West Indian/Caribbean, Native American/Alaskan Native, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) and who are interested in pursuing academic careers, to apply to the program. We're particularly interested in applicants who have interests in the areas of child health disparities, cultural competency, and minority child health and development. Selected NCScholars will be matched with mentors based on areas of interest. In addition NCScholars will receive a complementary membership in the APA for the duration of their residency and a travel grant to attend the annual PAS meetings and NCS conference.
Applications to the program will soon be available on the NCS Program section of the APA website (www.academicpeds.org), or directly through the APA central office (Jennifer@academicpeds.org). If you know of a potential applicant to the program, please contact one of the program directors (email addresses below), and encourage the potential applicant to contact us as well.
- Junior Mentors:
Junior mentors are fellows or junior faculty who are interested in mentoring in the program. Junior mentors provide "nuts and bolts" advice to the NCScholar in areas such as choosing and applying to a fellowship, career development, starting an academic career, selecting a research project, negotiating, work/life balance, etc. The responsibilities of a junior mentors include:
- Stay in regular contact with your NCScholar during the year (via email, phone, listserv, etc.)
- Attend the pre-PAS New Century Scholars conference the day before the PAS begins (usually the Friday before the PAS).
- Attend the NCScholars dinner banquet that evening.
- Meet with your NCScholar during the PAS; for example, meeting for coffee or lunch, attending a scientific session with him/her.
- Participate in program evaluation (questionnaires, etc)
Junior mentors do not need to be members of under-represented minority groups, although we encourage minority fellow and faculty to become involved in this program. We'll be creating a list of potential junior mentors and will match mentors with NCScholars based on areas of interest. If you're interested in being on the list of potential mentors, or have any questions, please contact either of the program directors (emails below). - Senior Mentors:
Senior mentors are mid and senior level faculty members of the APA who have a serious commitment to hands-on mentorship, and who are willing to volunteer their time to mentor in this program. Senior mentors provide "big picture" advice to the NCScholar regarding career planning, help in developing specific research and educational scholarship plans, and welcome the NCScholar into the APA and academic pediatric " culture." The responsibilities of a senior mentor include:
- Stay in regular contact with your NCScholar during the year (via email, phone, listserv, etc.)
- Attend the pre-PAS New Century Scholars conference the day before the PAS begins (usually the Friday before the PAS).
- Attend the NCScholars dinner banquet that evening.
- Meet with your NCScholar during the PAS; for example, meeting for coffee or lunch, attending a scientific session with him/her.
- Participate in program evaluation (questionnaires, etc)
We're looking for senior mentors who will actively work and be in communication with his or her NCScholar. The success of the program lies in the quality and commitment of our mentors. We'll be creating a list of potential senior mentors and will match mentors with NCScholars based on areas of interest. If you're interested in being on the list of mentors, or have any questions, please contact either of the program directors (emails below).
To summarize, you can help the APA New Century Scholars program in at least two ways: by recommending potential applicants to us and by becoming a mentor. Thank you for helping this core APA activity remains successful.
New Century Scholars Program Directors
Lee Pachter, DO - Director
Lpachter@ccmckids.org
Cheryl Kodjo, MD, MPH - Co-Director
Cheryl_Kodjo@URMC.Rochester.edu
