Health disparities is a persistant and serious public health problem (1). Addressing the healthcare workforce through student enrichment programs and educating the general public through community outreach programs are two effective strategies to reducing these disparities (2-6). To this end, the SEPA Kansas project is aimed at students and their families in the Kansas City, Kansas school district, a diverse community with many underrepresented and underserved minorities.

The overall goal of SEPA Kansas is to expose students and the public to information about the life sciences in general, and the clinical trial process in particular. It is hoped this will enhance community participation in clinical research and increase interest among this group in pursuing careers in the health professions.

The SEPA Kansas project consists of five programs: Biomedical Research Interns, Family Seminar Series, Summer Camp Pathological, GCRC Interns, and the Multimedia Project.

References

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. Washington, D.C: January 2000
2. Kimminnau, K. and Satzler, C. (2005) Kansas Health Institute. Racial and Ethnic Minority Disparities in Kansas: A Data and Chartbook.
3. Smedley, BD, Stith, AY, and Nelson, AR, eds. Institute of Medicine. (2003). Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic Disparities in health care. Washington, DC.
4. Smedley, BD, Stith Butler, A, and Bristow, LR, Eds. Institute of Medicine (2004). In the Nation's Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health Care Workforce.
5. Haynes, MA and Smedley, BD, eds. Institute of Medicine (1999). The Unequal Burden of Cancer: An Assessment of NIH Research and Programs for Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
6. Sullivan, Louis, W (2004). Missing persons: Minorities in the health professions. Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce. Atlanta, Georgia