Meet a few mentees and their research mentors from KU School of Medicine-Wichita:

• Zinnia Singh, a Wichita East High graduate headed to UCLA this fall, is interested in health disparities and healthcare access. Michelle Redmond, Ph.D., M.S., an associate professor in the Department of Population Health, has extensively studied maternal and infant health and underserved populations. Research match made.
• Larry Easterly, a sophomore biology major at Wichita State University who hopes to pursue an M.D./Ph.D., wants to learn about the research process that could become a focus of his career. Gina Berg, Ph.D., a research professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine, has spent years designing studies and guiding students and residents. Good fit found.

Research mentorships develop in different ways. Some students obtain a placement through recommendations, existing connections or by identifying a faculty member’s expertise. For others, the KUMC Educational Experience, or KEE, based in Kansas City but a cross-campus program, provides a helpful option. Each year about 200 participants — in four-month stints that can be extended — take advantage of KEE, which offers research opportunities to high school students and undergraduates who aren’t in KU Medical Center programs.

Ten to 12 of the research pairings usually occur on the Wichita campus each year, says Tereasa Gilmore, KEE system manager. Her program maintains a list of potential mentors and manages administrative tasks — campus badges, computer access, HIPAA and data security training, background checks, and more — so mentors can focus on the research.

Gilmore guides students to potential mentors based on their interests, urges them to study up on the mentors’ research and advises them on effective email approaches. Then the student must make contact, because that’s part of the learning. She estimates that 97% of the time, the potential mentor says yes, as Berg and Redmond did.

“Sometimes people hear the word research, they recoil or think it's boring. But it really can be fun and exciting,” Redmond says. “When you see the light bulb come on and they go, ‘Oh, OK, this is what I was looking for, this answers my question,’ then you think, ‘OK, they’ve got it.’ It’s nice to see the progression from the beginning of a project to watching them present and answer questions on their own and to help someone who says, ‘I may want research to be part of my future career.’ I remember everyone who took time to help me get to where I am. So it's just a joy to be able to do the same thing.”

What students explore and gain

Students only get paired with mentors who have an ongoing research project they can join. In Wichita, those projects often involve looking at the data from the existing project, crafting a research question that expands on a particular finding and conducting a secondary analysis. In Kansas City and its academic medical center, students often work in laboratory settings and build lab skills.

Redmond and collaborators had recently done a project interviewing pregnant and postpartum mothers to determine whether music could help reduce stress and anxiety, which can affect health outcomes. Singh’s question became: What would be the best way and place to provide the music, such as smartphone vs. computer or alone vs. in groups, in a future intervention.

“I've always been interested in healthcare access and how economic policy can shape how people can get healthcare and how we can help more people, especially low income or underserved patients, get healthcare,” says Singh, who plans to study economics at UCLA and then go to medical school.

Last summer, she met with Redmond once or twice week, discussing the data and methodology and refining research questions.

“I had to learn SPSS, which is the IBM software for statistical research, and how to use that data and answer my research questions,” says Singh, who obtained a mentor through KEE. “She was wonderful, so accommodating, and she was so understanding that I was a high school student and really didn't know what I was doing in the beginning.”

Among her findings, which she presented during KU School of Medicine-Wichita’s Research Forum in April, were that most women used music to relieve stress daily, preferred hearing music online or via cellphone and would be willing to take part in a future music intervention.

“I've been very involved in music, and to see it used in this aspect of medicine was really interesting,” Singh says. “I really hadn't thought of it as an intervention instead of just for your own personal enjoyment.”

“Zinnia did a great job,” Redmond says. “She was able to come in, learn about data analysis and how you analyze your data in a statistical program and then learn how to present your research. For the students I'm working with, I want to make sure that whatever they're doing they can turn into a research poster or abstract. She was very professional and very driven about the work.”

Easterly, the Wichita State student, is just getting started on his project with Berg, who oversees required trauma research at Wesley Medical Center.

“I want to be involved in as much research as I can during my time at WSU so that I can be prepared for medical school,” he says. “I hope to attend KU medical school and earn a dual M.D./Ph.D. scholarship for medical research.” 

Easterly is taking part in a study of timeouts and checklists, designed to ensure procedures are performed and information shared before a patient transitions from trauma to other care. His first assignment was a deep dive into the literature, a step Berg insists upon in the belief the student’s knowledge of the topic should outpace hers.

“This project has been a perfect entry into the field of research,” Easterly says. “I've learned about how research projects are structured and how teams work together to implement projects.”

“When I start with them, they are asking very naive questions,” says Berg, an author on over 100 journal articles who says being a cheerleader can be part of the role. “After we've worked together for a while, their question levels become more sophisticated and knowledgeable. I see their growth and that's really a beautiful thing. I can remember how excited I was to get my first publication, but now I am excited when students or residents get their first publications.”

Learning more than just a research topic

By pairing students with experienced medical school researchers, Gilmore says, students tell her they gain benefits that go beyond data analysis, lab science and other research skills.

“They don't stay siloed when they have these experiences. They meet the colleagues of their sponsor,” Gilmore says. “Some of them get guidance on what degree they need to start with in school or how to find and apply to a grad school. They’re rubbing shoulders with all these professionals and opening up their spheres and connections.”

The benefits of research and mentoring, of course, extend beyond the mentor and mentee.

“It definitely serves Kansans, because the research questions we answer eventually help us craft or tailor correct interventions for women,” Redmond says. “It's a way of sharing research, and it also provides connection to our community.”

The knowledge gained is important, Berg says, but the skills learned can make students better providers.

“When I teach students and residents to be producers of research, I'm teaching them to be better consumers of research, so they can, more knowledgably, evaluate the scientific evidence,” Berg says. “I love mentoring learners through the research process and watching their knowledge about and appreciation for research expand. This will help them make better patient care decisions.”

At left: Gina Berg, Ph.D.

Above, right: Larry Easterly

Top, left: Michelle Redmond, Ph.D., M.S.