Abstract

Objectives/Goals: Skilled clinical research professionals are essential to efficient and effective research teams, but many undergraduate students are not aware of staff-level careers in the field. To address this, the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) launched the CHRP Pathways Program.

Methods/Study Populations: The 10-week hybrid Clinical and Health Research Professional (CHRP) Pathways Program was piloted in Summer 2024. Undergraduate students interested in research careers were recruited from local universities and community colleges. The program consisted of 8 hours/week of didactic curriculum guided by ECRPTQ competencies and 32 hours/week of mentored work experience on research teams. Classroom activities were completed with participants from a partner program within the university. Surveys were administered at 3 weeks and 10 weeks, with an end-of-program focus group to assess acceptability and self-reported learning outcomes.

Results/Anticipated Results: The pilot CHRP Pathways Program enrolled 3 students and was well-received by participating students and mentor research teams. Students agreed that they would recommend the program to their classmates. Students indicated that the program helped them understand the role of a study coordinator, provided insight into research career paths, and helped them form professional relationships. Self-reported confidence levels in a range of research competencies increased.  Two students who completed the 10-week program chose to continue working part-time with their research teams while continuing their undergraduate studies.

Discussion/Significance: Experiences like the CHRP Pathways Program provide valuable exposure to staff-level research career opportunities for students engaged in health science studies. They can address an existing workforce gap by equipping college graduates with relevant work experience and basic research competencies.

Lay summary: The Clinical and Health Research Professional (CHRP) Pathways Program is a 10-week research skills training program aimed at undergraduate college students. It consists of 5-8 hours per week of classroom and/or assignment-based instruction on a variety of research topics and 32-35 hours per week of research work experience. The CHRP Pathways Program hopes to increase the number of qualified workers interested in careers in clinical and health research at the staff level (i.e., study coordinator, research project manager). The program successfully completed its first year and was well-received by students who participated and research mentors who worked with them. Programs like these can connect college students studying in the health sciences with opportunities for lifelong careers in clinical research.

DOI to abstract in JCTS 2025 Abstract Collection vol 9(s1): https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2024.812