Craig Cox, PharmD, BCPS Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice Vice Chair, Experiential Programs

1. Craig Cox, PharmD, BCPS Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice Vice Chair, Experiential Programs Shannon Kirkland, MBA Director West Texas AHEC & Rural Health Programs Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

2. Identifying Factors that Affect Minority Students’ Interest in Health Careers

3. H.O.T. Jobs history Started by the Texas AHEC network in 1997 as a printed book Designed to prepare students for entry into the healthcare field Historically updated every 3 years First HOT Jobs website was contributed by the Health Science Education partner in early 2005 as part of 2nd edition—a pdf version of the book with some lesson plan materials 3rd edition website launched in early 2006, much more graphically oriented and some basic interactive features

4. The Basics Received 2-year $340,000 minority research grant from The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Project involved: Research Component Web-Development Component Collaboration with multiple partners across State of Texas

5. Research Objectives • Determine student interest & influences in pursuing education after completion of high school • Determine student & parent interest and general understanding of health careers • Compare & contrast different cultural, familial, and socioeconomic influences on student & parent understanding and interest in health careers • Determine informational needs and message delivery resources that students & parents prefer in obtaining information about education and careers following high school Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

6. Timeline of Events Winter / Spring 2008 Focus groups process begins Determination of web design / infrastructure Summer 2008 Held focus group sessions Develop student survey Fall 2008 / Winter 2009 Disperse student survey / collect-analyze results Continue web design (modify based on research findings) Spring - Fall 2009 Completion of website

7. PresentationObjectives Participants will be able to explain the findings from this study about high school students perceptions of health careers and media usage for career information Participants will be able to discuss the applications for these findings in developing resources to meet student and families’ information needs. Participants will be able to discuss the challenges and opportunities, as well as processes, for conducting research working with schools and underage students as subjects Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

8. Research methods • Focus groups with high school students and parents • Survey of high school students • Collaboration with Texas Tech University College of Mass Communications • Alex Ortiz, PhD • Kent Wilkinson, PhD • Peter Muhlberger • Loni Flores, M.Ed. (TTUHSC F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural Health) Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

9. FOCUS GROUPS

10. Focus group summary Focus groups held in Amarillo, Dallas, and El Paso 2 student focus groups and 1 parent focus group held at each location Total of 85 participants from diverse backgrounds (i.e. ethnicity, socio- economic status, etc.) Parent groups at each location were conducted bilingually Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

11. Findings from student focus groups The Internet was cited by the majority of students as their primary source of health career information Students look for information about academic programs that offer healthcare-related majors, financial aid, expected salary, work hours, and length of study

12. Findings from student focus groups Students rely on online multimedia features, such as streaming audio and video, to serve as helpful tools in the search process Podcasting was not a feature students used or valued Students also rely on television programs (Hopkins or Mystery Diagnosis) as sources of information, but state that they recognize that ER and Grey’s Anatomy are not realistic portrayals Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

13. Findings from student focus groups Students talked about the importance of teachers as key sources of health care information Majority of students cited instructors as their primary source of interpersonal information at school, compared with guidance counselors Two contributing factors of students going into health care were service and job stability Students indicated a need for additional mentoring, academic and financial aid information to attend college

14. Findings from parent focus groups Parents in all three locations cited some of the same concerns and needs – the need for role models for their children, and – presenting health careers in a way that shows how interesting and exciting these careers are Parents discussed the financial issues involved in pursuing training and the perception of the huge time commitment involved with a healthcare career—the cost and length of training was a concern: What if my child changes his mind?

15. Findings from parent focus groups There were differences among the parent focus groups – El Paso parents stated the need to keep kids closer to home – There was a concern that leaving home would bring their children a new set of problems, including financial and cultural – El Paso parents in the group had a higher average economic status than the other locations and were much more tech-savvy than the others

16. STUDENT SURVEYS

17. Student survey • Data from students at 24 Texas high schools • High schools are broadly distributed across the state and across high school types • High school types were defined by subdividing schools by percent at-risk, low English proficiency, non-Caucasian and economically disadvantaged • Responses represent 71% of all students in Texas Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

18. About the sample • Sample size: 855 • Mean age: 16 • % Female: 57% • Ethnicity: • 35% Caucasian • 46% Hispanic • 8% African-American • Median father education: some college; Median mother education: high school • Parental education is well distributed

19. Analysis method • Pure Demographic Model • Contextual + Demographic Model • Social Network + Contextual + Demographic Model • Media + Contextual + Demographic Model Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

20. Health career motivation Pure Demographic Model (3%) Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

21. Health career motivation Contextual + Demographic Model (20%) Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

22. Health career motivation Social Ntwk + Context + Demo (43%) Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

23. Health career motivation • **How many health career websites the respondent knows does significantly and positively affect motivation and knowledge of healthcare careers** Media + Context + Demo Model Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

24. Research implications Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

25. Parent Guide • Emphasis on • Why health careers? • Help your child • Get started

26. Social Network • Informational to key influencers: • Parents/families and educators • Perspectives from current health professionals • Social media • Twitter • Facebook

27. Professionals in the Field • Professionals can • complete a brief • questionnaire • online • Profiles are • posted for public • view after review

28. Educator Section

29. Multimedia, Interactivity • Career Interest Inventory • Career Focus • Career Exploration Modules • Education search map

30. Opportunities for further study • Teens’ skills for Internet searches are not sophisticated. Some indications that they are not as skilled as to find the information they need • Our survey focused on teen perceptions and motivations, but did not have the scope to include comparative parent perceptions about the same issues • Our findings suggest that, even though Hispanic culture is patriarchal, the mother has more influence in this area Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

31. CHALLENGES

32. IRB Challenges Multiple Institutions Choose most rigorous IRB Population <18 years of age Incentives for students/institutions Understand IRB guidelines

33. Focus Group Challenges Consider language barriers Consider ethnicity of groups Mix vs. Ethnicity-specific Consider technology / facility issues Consider timing of sessions Create “positive” learning environment

34. Student Survey Challenges Diversity of requirements for gaining school participation Difficulty in finding “ideal” time to conduct surveys Delays in response were common Consider strategy / incentive to convince school of importance of research Find “one” contact person at institution

35. Summary Development of tools for students, parents, and educators are needed Important to get to know your audience – through focus groups, student surveys, etc… Things take time, don’t assume you can accomplish overnight Be willing to “roll with the punches” when conducting research

36. Contact us Craig Cox TTUHSC School of Pharmacy Craig.cox@ttuhsc.edup. 806.743.4200 Shannon Kirkland TTUHSC F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural & Community Health shannon.kirkland@ttuhsc.edup. 806.743.1338

37. Partners and contributors • TTUHSC School of Pharmacy • TTUHSC F. Marie Hall Institute for Rural and Community Health, West Texas AHEC Program • TTU College of Mass Communications • AHEC of the Plains • East Texas AHEC Program (UTMB) • DFW AHEC (UT Southwestern), Piney Woods AHEC (Stephen F. Austin University), and Pecan Valley AHEC (Victoria College) Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

38. QUESTIONS