Hispanic Health Opportunity Learning Alliance: Training a Diverse Health Workforce

Background: Data consistently show that minorities are underrepresented at all levels of higher education, especially in the biomedical, behavioral, and science fields (NCES 2012). The NIH-funded Hispanic Health Opportunity Learning Alliance (H2OLA)  is a cross-disciplinary avenue to address this fundamental challenge. California State University Long Beach (CSULB) is uniquely poised to meet this challenge as it is Hispanic Serving Institution located in a large metropolitan city that is 43% Hispanic.

Objective: H2OLA is designed to increase the number of Hispanic students prepared to enter careers in health disparities research or to address health disparities as professionals.

Methods:  Through a peer mentorship program, Hispanic graduate mentor fellows reach an annual cohort of 35 Latino undergraduate students who are interested in careers in health disparities but who are not competitive for graduate programs.  Participants receive weekly mentoring and tutoring sessions, prepare electronic portfolios for admission to graduate school, attend research seminars and other activities with Latino health disparities researchers, and present posters at the CSULB Latino Health Equity conference.

Results:  Quantitative and qualitative data on the barriers to educational success and types of services most often required for the first two cohorts will be presented.

Conclusion:  Academic enrichment training programs are an effective mechanism to widen the gate for more minority students to become competitive applicants to graduate school and enter the workforce well-prepared and motivated to address health disparities.