The Outcomes of Interprofessional Experiential Learning for Underrepresented Racial/Ethnic Minority Students to Address Latino Childhood Obesity

Addressing Latino childhood obesity requires effective health promotion programs and culturally resonant health professionals. The current profiles of public health professionals and registered dietitians point to the need to increase the number of Latino students trained in community-based participatory research and engagement of underserved populations. To address this workforce gap, the Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation, and Leadership Training developed the Sanos y Fuertes: Healthy & Strong Graduate Research Fellowship to provide Latino graduate students with research training, professional development, and mentorship. Five cohorts of seven graduate students participated in a yearlong experiential learning program. Graduate research fellows received monthly research and professional development training from faculty, staff, and community health workers. Furthermore, fellows engaged in mentored research through the development and implementation of a Latino childhood obesity prevention curriculum and intervention. A mixed-method evaluation approach was used to assess the effectiveness of the program. Fellows completed baseline, posttraining, and follow-up assessments. Assessment surveys measured training experiences (e.g., research methods, community engagement), confidence (e.g., research methods, health education), and knowledge and skills (e.g., community health program skills). The training resulted in significant increases in skills and confidence between pre- and postassessments that were sustained at follow-up. Based on these findings, we recommend that student training programs include research as experiential learning with multidisciplinary, interprofessional teams and that community-based, community-engaged, or translational research teams include community health workers as integral members for research with marginalized, underserved populations.