Near-peer mentorship in a medical-student led oncology and regenerative medicine research education program increases stem interest in underrepresented high school students
Open accessAbstract
Students from underrepresented backgrounds are less likely to pursue careers in healthcare and research. Despite the existence of many pipeline programs to reduce this disparity, there is still a need to effectively increase the diversity of the STEM workforce. Our research education program for underrepresented high school students attempts to bridge this gap by implementing the near-peer mentorship strategy by incorporating medical students in roles as program leaders and mentors. From June 2018 to August 2022, second-year medical students at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, directed an 8-week program each summer for local San Diego high school students. Alumni of our program were invited to complete a survey to assess demographic information, current education, career goals, and impacts of our program. Our research education program for high school students from underrepresented races/ethnicities and/or low-SES backgrounds was effective in influencing our students to pursue higher education and maintain an interest in STEM-related careers.
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Similar programs involving observation, mentorship, preparation, and research have been established in otolaryngology, neurology, and regenerative medicine, enabling longitudinal subspecialty mentorship, opportunities for scholarly presentations, and increased interest in graduate and medical school, as well as STEM careers.
“Similar programs involving observation, mentorship, preparation, and research have been established in otolaryngology, neurology, and regenerative medicine, enabling longitudinal subspecialty mentorship, opportunities for scholarly presentations, and increased interest in graduate and medical school, as well as STEM careers [8,18,24].”
From Efficacy of Early Exposure Medical Programs for Underrepresented Students: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as [18]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPrograms targeting subspecialties can provide tailored information, preparation, and mentorship to foster interest tailored to a niche.
“Programs targeting subspecialties can provide tailored information, preparation, and mentorship to foster interest tailored to a niche [5,8,11,18,24].”
From Efficacy of Early Exposure Medical Programs for Underrepresented Students: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as [18]
The Methods (Medical-student designed curricula and Individualized mentorship; page unavailable) describe oncology and regenerative-medicine instruction, research preparation, career activities, and mentoring. The Results (Academic Achievements; page unavailable) report interest in STEM careers, but do not establish increased interest in oncology, regenerative medicine, or another specific niche. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Research works printed but not linked: 12
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Efficacy of Early Exposure Medical Programs for Underrepresented Students: A Systematic Review
Jaganathan, N., Guntaka, R., Goel, V., Odo, N., Sun, Z., & Arthur, M. E. (2026) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.109396
- Authors
- Satpathy, Y., Lee, M., Wong, A., Larkin, B., Lushniak, S., Nguyen, H., Maldonado, D., Ben Romdhane, N., Domingo, K., Garcia, J., & Murphy, J.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- UC San Diego Health System (US)
- Corresponding author
- Murphy, James
- Venue
- Journal of Cancer Education
- Published
- 2025-03-12
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 919-924
- ISSN
- 0885-8195 (ISSN-L)
- 1543-0154
- PMC
- PMC12288448
- OpenAlex
- W4408379049
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 2.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Cancer Education (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute (R25CA274175, U54CA285115, U54CA285117)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mentoring and Academic Development
- Keywords
- near-peer mentorship, STEM career interest, cancer education, low socioeconomic status students, pipeline programs, career aspirations
- MeSH terms
- Mentoring, Adolescent, Career Choice, Female, Humans, Male, Medical Oncology, Mentors, Minority Groups, Peer Group, Students, Students, Medical, Biomedical Research
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