SHE (Summer Healthcare Experience) in Oncology

The Summer Healthcare Experience in Oncology is a virtual, multi-institutional STEM enrichment program for high school students, with a mission to grow the cancer biomedical workforce. The curriculum offers hands-on research experience, career exploration, mentorship, and leadership training, drawing strategically from the unique strengths and resources of five of the nation’s top cancer centers: University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center, University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, and the University of Texas at Austin Livestrong Cancer Institutes. Programming is delivered collaboratively and synchronously across the five sites, connecting trainees to an expansive network of peers, mentors, and opportunities in cancer research and care. The program’s multi-institutional structure also creates rich context for the study of social determinants of health, access to care, and other factors driving cancer health outcomes within the centers’ respective catchment areas (and participants’ respective communities). In summers 2021 and 2022, 169 participants completed a pilot version of the Summer Healthcare Experience in Oncology program. Pilot outcomes reflect significant gains in trainees’ scientific knowledge, biomedical career awareness, and confidence and sense of belonging in STEM. Trainees also report that the program enhanced important generalizable skills including critical thinking, self-directed learning, and the ability to communicate scientific concepts. This proposal details plans to expand the Summer Healthcare Experience in Oncology in fundamental ways including year-round programming, formalized support for program alumni, and rigorous evaluation to validate and strengthen the program model for expansion to new institutional cohorts nationwide.