To expand graduate school and career opportunities, as well as encourage diversity for students from underrepresented and underserved populations, Chaminade’s Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research hosted a March 28-29 campus visit by Dr. Medeva Ghee, executive director of the Leadership Alliance.
Established in 1992, this national consortium develops underrepresented students into outstanding leaders and role models in academia, business and the public sector. Chaminade is one of 36 institutions forming the alliance, along with other universities such as Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Yale.
During Dr. Ghee’s visit she met with students, faculty and staff at a poster reception and roundtable luncheon. Her keynote address, “Exploring the Unexplored,” encouraged students to pursue doctoral degrees.
Dr. Ghee is a faculty member with Brown University’s Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences. She also provided technical assistance and strategic advice for the Clinton Foundation initiative on preventing and treating HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Among the Leadership Alliance opportunities for undergraduates is the Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP). These fully paid internships provide training and mentoring in research principles so undergraduates can competitively apply for Ph.D. and MD-Ph.D. programs.
Internships are available in life and physical sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and the humanities at over 20 institutions nationwide.
Among the Chaminade students who completed an SR-EIP internship is Dior-Ashton Teodosio. After graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, she plans to pursue a doctorate in Clinical Psychology so she can treat children with learning disabilities.
Teodosio’s internship, conducted through the American Psychological Association, took place at Washington University in St. Louis.
“I worked on two different studies this past summer,” Teodosio says. “One focused on false hearing and analyzing previous data from another false hearing study. And the second one focused on second language vocabulary and speech perception.”
Teodosio urges other Chaminade students to consider an SR-EIP internship.
“If I had to give any advice to future students applying for any type of summer program, I would say to do it and go in with an open mind,” she says. “This is an opportunity that most don’t have, so you should definitely try it out!”
The Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research provides services to students interested in pursuing medical careers. These services include: academic preparation and advising, professional seminars and guest speakers, and undergraduate research programs. Chaminade students also have the opportunity for early admission to graduate programs through articulation agreements arranged with numerous medical schools.
