Brent Hale, Patrick Linson and Wambli “Shawn” Franklin, three Native American students who attended HMS in the 1990s, had a vision. They wanted to find a way to promote the careers of promising Native Americans—one of the most underrepresented groups in the health professions—in the fields of medicine, public health and biomedical science.
In 1994, they created the Four Directions Summer Research Program. Now, more than 160 students later, they are celebrating 20 years of success.
The program consists of an eight-week research project overseen by an HMS faculty mentor. Through the program, students learn valuable skills that will help them pursue a career in the field of medicine, as well as knowledge that can help their communites and future generations of Native American people.
The majority of the student’s time is spent in research labs at HMS and its affiliated hospitals, where they work one-on-one with a mentor on a specific project. The remainder of the time is spent in weekly career development seminars, skills workshops, talking circles and at social networking events.
The students present a final project that concludes the program at the end of the summer. This helps them to build confidence in bringing a project to completion and then presenting it in front of peers and faculty.
The success rate of the program is high. One hundred percent of the students who have participated in the program have graduated or are completing an undergraduate education at a four-year institute.
Four Directions Summer Research participants at HMS and Brigham and Women’s Hospital celebrated the program’s 20th anniversary with a symposium at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center on July 12, bringing in more than 50 of its alumni, as well as supporters and faculty members who have contributed to its success. Alumni, including Hale, Linson and Franklin, all talked about their personal experiences.
“The main goals of the event were to highlight the success of the program and alumni, and to create a stronger alumni unit,” said Thomas Sequist, HMS assistant professor of medicine and director of FDSRP.
Sequist, a member of the Taos Pueblo tribe in northern New Mexico, has been involved since the second summer of the program in 1995. He is now the director of the program and continues to help students develop a network of professional contacts around the country while also providing them with a very clear roadmap for their career.
