Abstract
Cancer prevention is a broad field that crosses many disciplines; therefore, educational efforts to enhance cancer prevention research focused on interdisciplinary approaches to the field are greatly needed. In order to hasten progress in cancer prevention research, the Cancer Prevention Internship Program (CPIP) at Purdue University was designed to develop and test an interdisciplinary curriculum for undergraduate and graduate students. The hypothesis was that course curriculum specific to introducing interdisciplinary concepts in cancer prevention would increase student interest in and ability to pursue advanced educational opportunities (e.g., graduate school, medical school). Preliminary results from the evaluation of the first year which included 10 undergraduate and 5 graduate students suggested that participation in CPIP is a positive professional development experience, leading to a significant increase in understanding of interdisciplinary research in cancer prevention. In its first year, the CPIP project has created a successful model for interdisciplinary education in cancer prevention research.
Keywords
Cancer Prevention, Curriculum, Interdisciplinary, undergraduate, graduate
Date of this Version
2011
DOI
10.1007/s13187-011-0232-0
Recommended Citation
Teegarden, D.; Lee, Ji-Yeon; Adedokun, Omolola A.; Childress, Amy; Parker, Loran C.; Burgess, Wilella D.; Nagel, Julie; Knapp, Deborah W.; Lelievre, Sophie A.; Agnew, Christopher; Shields, Cleveland G.; Leary, James F.; Adams, Robin; and Jensen, Jakob D., "Cancer Prevention Interdisciplinary Education Program at Purdue University: Overview and Preliminary Results" (2011). Department of Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications. Paper 30.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13187-011-0232-0