The application period is now closed.

To read more about the recipients of the 2007 Hispanic Health Professional Training Internships,
please click here.

Training Overview:
In November 2006, the Division of International Health and Cross-Cultural Medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) received an award from the U.S. Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools (HSHPS) to support four six-month training internships for qualified Hispanic students or recent graduates interested in research experiences in HIV/AIDS and related infections with Latino populations living in the US-Mexico border region.

The goal of our program is to train the next generation of Hispanic public health and biomedical researchers with expertise in substance abuse and its infectious disease consequences, especially HIV, viral hepatitis, TB and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S.-Mexico border region. UCSD is a major hub for research on HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases, and is situated 30 minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border where our team has a thriving research program that is partnered with local universities on both sides of the border and a local non-governmental organization in Tijuana and the Tijuana Municipal Health Service. Given that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is now a major health problem for both the U.S. and Mexico, particularly in our shared border region, our program is poised to make an important contribution towards training Hispanic professionals who can effectively address this critical binational problem.

Trainee Learning Opportunities:
Our program will recruit Hispanic students and pair them with a UCSD mentor with whom they will plan a research project. We will provide a number of activities including (at least) weekly field visits to Tijuana, work-in progress research seminar presentations, weekly journal clubs, workshops on grant writing and writing manuscripts, periodic keynote lectures on relevant topics and research ethics. Our ongoing USAID-funded cross-border HIV/AIDS training program will allow our U.S. Hispanic fellows to have ongoing interactions with Mexican fellows, academicians and health professionals. Fellows and their mentors will evaluate one another; each fellow will also be tracked over time to assess their subsequent career paths in academic, medical or public health institutions. Trainees will be expected to commit to a six month training program. Students who are selected for this program will receive a monthly stipend of $1600 from HSHPS.

Trainee Eligibility Criteria:

• Hispanic student (current student or recent graduate within one year) of a Masters or doctoral program in medicine, public health, or a biomedical science (e.g., MPH, MD, DrPH, MS, or PhD);
• Current students must have completed at least 80% of graduate level coursework before initiating their internship and must be considered 'in good standing' by their respective academic institution; and be
• U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident (i.e. hold current green card)
• Preference will be given to persons w/ less than five years experience working in the field of HIV/border health.