Jon Wood knows the value of research collaborations.
“It’s so important to involve community leaders in the research process,” said Wood, a second-year medical student at UNMC. “Not only does it facilitate communication, but it prevents ill will between research subjects and the institution.”
Wood was one of 17 medical students from UNMC who took part in an immersion program to learn more about community engagement in research.
The UNMC Office of Community Engagement partnered with the Medical College of Wisconsin Office of Community Engagement in offering the summer training and six medical students continue in the program through a journal club.
Through the 2020 Medical Student Community Engagement Summer Immersion Program students learned from community-engaged researchers, medical students and community partners.
Sessions were hosted virtually and included conversational, small group learning. The students also learned the five core principles of community-engaged research.
Those principles include:
- The definition and scope of community engagement in research;
- Strong community-academic partnership;
- Equitable power and responsibility;
- Capacity building; and
- An effective dissemination plan
The UNMC Great Plains IDeA CTR program, which offers community-engaged research training and support, has continued training through a December Diversity and Inclusion workshop for the students.
“I loved the opportunity to participate in this community engagement learning experience through the Medical College of Wisconsin,” said Kaci German, a second-year medical student at UNMC. “The learnings were insightful and in particular, I connected with a peer who is president of their student-run free health care clinic who gave me great insight on what they do differently and how they reach patients throughout their area. I am excited to share these best practices with our students.”
Any faculty, staff or students who are interested in learning more about community-engaged research training and support are invited to check out the Dissemination and Implementation Science Workshop, currently being offered online through the Great Plains IDeA CTR program.