title: Health professions career awareness program for seventh- and eighth-grade African-American students: a pilot study.
abstract: This exploratory, cross-sectional study was designed to gauge the interest and health career choices of African-American students before high school and to determine their level of satisfaction with a health career awareness program. Over a three-year period, 133 seventh-grade students (47%) and eighth-grade students (53%) enrolled in a Southside Chicago Catholic school were recruited; 98% were African-American. The students participated in a career awareness program, which consisted of lectures, video presentation, interactive discussion, and college campus visits. Each student completed a questionnaire that sought demographic information, health career choice, career preference, and level of satisfaction with the awareness program implemented. For career choice, 39% of the students selected "doctor" and dentist, 28% selected occupational therapy, 15% selected social work, 11% selected nursing, and 7% selected health information administration. The majority of the students (51%) were "very satisfied" and 49% were "satisfied" with the program that was implemented. We found no discernable difference in the health career interest and career choice of the study participants over the three-year period. Our findings reconfirmed a continuing limited level of awareness about allied health professions among African-American students before high school. Follow-up studies should expand the scope and contents of the awareness program to include other health professions, field trips, and mentoring by health care providers or health professional students.
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences, Chicago State University, Chicago, Illinois 60628-1598, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Balogun
authors.forename: Patricia E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Sloan
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hardney
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D001364:Awareness; D002321:Career Choice; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006281:Health Occupations; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*