271037 Relationship of Personal Experiences with Potential Predictors of Pursuit of Health Careers

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Alyssa Todaro, BS , University of Maryland, Rockville, MD
K. Shakira Washington, MS , Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD
Bradley O. Boekeloo, PhD, MS , Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Brian Gilchrist, MPH , University of Maryland Prevention Research Center, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Min Qi Wang, PhD, MS , Department of Behavioral and Community Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD
Only 10% of the health professionals are from racial/ethnic minority groups, and much research has been focused on encouraging minorities to enter a health career. The lack of health workforce diversity has many implications for the effective delivery of care to an increasingly diverse US population. The goal of this analysis is to examine the association of personal health experiences on potential predictors of pursuit of a health career: interest in health careers, altruism, knowledge of health scientists' roles, and perceived susceptibility/severity of health problems among minorities. “Personal Health Experiences” is a newly created scaled variable that assesses the influence of direct and indirect health experiences of respondents (range = 1 to 7; mean = 5.13, s.d. = 1.34). In a sample of 134 predominantly minority 10th graders from underprivileged neighborhoods, regression modeling revealed that “Personal Health Experiences” was associated with increased “Interest in Health Careers” (B = .47; 95% C.I. = .260, .687) and correlation analyses revealed positive relationships to altruism (r = .37 to .48, p = .000), knowledge (r = .24 to .28, p < .005), and perceived susceptibility (r = .19 to .25, p < .030) items. Personal health experiences appear to be associated with a number of variables that could predict pursuit of a career in a health field. Future research is needed to determine the role that personal health experiences play in career choices and one's success in health career choices. Such information could, for example, help to refine health professions recruitment strategies.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Examine the association of personal health experiences on potential predictors of pursuit of a health career in an underprivileged minority population of high school students. 2. Describe two newly-created scaled variables and their reliability ("personal health experiences" and "interest in a health career").

Keywords: Minorities, Workforce

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been involved in independent research involved with minorities under the supervision of numerous senior-level researchers at Penn State, the University of Maryland, and the National Institutes of Health. I am currently working on three active intramural protocols at the NIH Clinical Center while in my third year of working towards a PhD in public health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4099.0: Workforce Development: Preparing the Next Generations of Minority Public Health Leaders*