Building and Implementing an Effective Quantitative Sciences Internship Program for Undergraduate Students

• Activity Number: 194 - Building and Implementing an Effective Quantitative Sciences Internship Program for Undergraduate Students
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 10, 2021 : 1:30 PM to 3:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Consulting
• Author(s): Kay See Tan* and Justine Herrera* and Nathan Tintle* and Heather Mattie* and Alisa Stephens-Shields*
• Companies: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Columbia University and Dordt University and Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania
• Keywords: Statistics education; Biostatistics; Internship; Undergraduate mentoship; Consulting Training

Abstract

Internship opportunities at the interface of quantitative science and health-related research have the goal of teaching students how to engage in collaborative research and thereby promote the career development of future statisticians. However, these opportunities are limited at the undergraduate level, and established programs at the graduate level simply do not meet the needs of undergraduates. This panel discussion will stimulate discussion on the topics of effective mentoring and training of undergraduate students in such opportunities. The goal of this panel discussion is to articulate the core building blocks of an effective undergraduate internship program in quantitative sciences, biostatistics and computational biology. The discussion topics will include: Outreach and selection process; Program components (crafting a productive collaborative research experience, formal didactic, graduate school preparation; training in collaborative consulting); and Program evaluation and deliverables (undergraduate publications). Additional topics include ensuring diversity among applicants and participants, and how each program navigated the challenges resulting from COVID19.