To train graduate students and postgraduates in cancer prevention and control research with a focus on Hispanic health and health disparities. Our internship and fellowship programs will both focus on cancer prevention and control among Hispanics, with a special emphasis on health disparities in Puerto Ricans and other Hispanic/Latino populations.  Given the cancer health disparities between Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations, these training programs will be beneficial for the Hispanic population by training the future cancer researchers and cancer health professionals.  The programs will provide trainees with academic and practical experience in cancer prevention and control. Trainees will participate in a series of lectures and workshops complemented with hands-on research experience in public health and cancer research.  Areas of research in cancer prevention and control will focus on the cancer control continuum (prevention, screening and early detection, chemoprevention and therapeutic clinical trials, and survivorship) (Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, 2007b).  The cancer research experience will be overseen by a cancer researcher/mentor, to whom each student will be assigned.   Trainees will also participate in clinical preventive care activities on cancer prevention and early detection.

Program Duration: 

June 2 thru December 2, 2010 (6 months)

Work hours:  Students will be required to participate in the program from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Language:  The official languages of the program will be English and Spanish.  Although most seminars, workshops, and reading material will be provided in English, upon the discretion of the mentors and invited speakers, the Spanish language may also be used for oral communication with the trainees. Clinical rotations and outreach activities, in which contact with patients is common, will be on Spanish, as this is the daily language most commonly used by people in Puerto Rico.