A virtual near-peer mentorship research program focused on healthcare disparities in the United States of America

To promote health equity, it is crucial to educate the next generation of healthcare workers about disparities early on during their education. We developed a virtual research program at a medical school in the United States of America with the goal of increasing the awareness of youth about the complexities of health inequities. The program was based on a near-peer mentorship where high school students were coached by medical student mentors under the oversight of an experienced faculty mentor. We evaluated the participants' perspectives about the program using a mixed quantitative and qualitative method. Upon completion of the program, the participants were asked to complete a survey and rate their self-perceived knowledge, efficacy skills and interest in addressing health disparities in the future. Additionally, the participants' perspectives about the program were gathered using open-ended questions and analyzed using thematic analysis. Our preliminary findings indicate that the program enhanced the participants' knowledge about the complexities of health disparities and their motivation to address them in the future. The near-peer mentorship model was valuable in success of the program. The implications to enhance intrinsic and extrinsic instincts through partnerships among educational settings, underserved communities, policy makers and healthcare agencies is discussed.