Dr. Arredondo and the REACH Lab leadership team strive to offer comprehensive mentorship for students at all levels and from all backgrounds. The majority of student mentees in our lab are from backgrounds underrepresented in the sciences and many are first generation students.
Our lab offers a number of different structured and unstructured opportunities for students to receive mentorship and prepare them to succeed in any academic and professional goals. We also take time to celebrate accomplishments and milestones together, take healthy breaks for fun, and participate in institute-wide celebrations and parties at IBACH.
Some of the mentorship activities our lab provides include:
Mentored Research Experience and methodology training in qualitative and quantitative approaches, ethical conduct of research, Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Science, community-based partnerships, and data management. Mentees are provided with hands-on research training from Dr. Arredondo and the research leadership team, gaining experience with software (Qualtrics, Redcap, SPSS, R, Basecamp, etc.) and skills that will benefit their professional and academic development.
One-on-One Mentorship with PI: Dr. Arredondo’s advisees in the JDP and MA programs meet with her weekly for 30-to-60 minutes to receive additional individualized attention to discuss personal, academic, and professional matters; this ensures that students stay on track to meet goals such as timely degree completion, thesis/dissertation publication, and strengthening their research skills. Students complete Individual Development Plans (IDPs) and receive formal feedback every 6 months on professional competencies such as presentation skills, leadership skills, writing skills, mentoring, and other areas mentors and/or mentees identify as key goals or areas of growth for the mentee’s success; students conduct an inventory of their research skills and knowledge, interests, and values and use the outcomes to develop annual short-term goals during their academic program and a long-term goal after degree attainment. Each strategic goal will follow evidence-based methods to include timelines and resources.
D&I Journal Club: Our lab sets aside time once per month for group discussion of cutting-edge assigned readings in the field of Dissemination & Implementation science. This helps students and staff at all levels to build a more comprehensive understanding of the field and consider ways that it can apply it to our own research.
Professional Development: Students receive formation and support in areas beyond the skills needed for the day-to-day study activities. Mentees at all levels participate in biweekly 1-hour seminars that include article discussions, presentations by external speakers, panels, and discussions. These include diverse topics such as professional networking, writing skills, grant management, cultural humility, protecting marginalized populations, presentation skills, mentorship, developing research questions, and applying to graduate school or fellowships.
Manuscript and Grant Preparation: Our team encourages students to participate in the development of manuscripts, fellowships and grants. We hold weekly manuscript meetings to check in on progress and provide encouragement and accountability to make progress on writing. We keep track of upcoming conference deadlines and encourage motivated students at all levels to lead abstracts, posters, oral presentations, and papers. Further, all students are encouraged to present at professional conferences or at SDSU’s annual Student Symposium and they receive opportunities to practice their oral or poster presentations and receive feedback prior to conferences.
We also hold an annual two-day writing retreat that includes dedicated writing time, feedback, collaboration time, mini-workshops, and support for new writers; this allows dedicated time for all mentees to work on fellowship applications, publications, and other written deliverables. We have also held one-day mini writing retreats and monthly writing blocks to encourage staff and students to set aside time to write.
Training in Ethical Conduct of Research: During team meetings, we discuss issues that arise in the community such as protecting marginalized communities, debriefing, literacy issues, payment, and examples of ethical dilemmas related to comprehension of what is being asked. In addition, all trainees are expected to complete CITI Training and receive instruction on Human Subjects submission; doctoral students are required to take an advanced course in responsible conduct of research (UCSD).
Formal and Informal Peer Mentoring: Students are given the option to participate in one-on-one or small group mentoring with older students (e.g. an MA, MPH, or PhD student researcher), meeting 2-3 times per semester to provide a supportive environment to explore concerns young researchers might feel unprofessional bringing up with faculty advisors. Students are matched based on compatibility to provide advice and encouragement in the areas that student mentees most need support (e.g. experiences as a first-generation student, thriving professionally as a minority in their field, selecting and applying to graduate school, basic questions about research methods, etc.). Our lab also fosters an environment that encourages informal mentorship, where student and staff researchers at all levels work together and everyone has open-door policies; this has helped our undergraduates to apply for graduate programs, receive tips to excel academically, and grow in self-efficacy and motivation as researchers.
Access to Investigators and Resources at IBACH: Students have access to a number of investigators from different fields of study including Epidemiology, Statistics, Health Promotion, Psychology, as well as Research Staff. Through these connections, students have opportunities to network with faculty from diverse backgrounds (75% of IBACH PIs are underrepresented minority faculty) as well as access to additional datasets and opportunities for publications, theses, and dissertations. IBACH hosts a monthly lunch series research presentation by investigators that students are encouraged to attend and annual events (summer mixer, halloween party, winter party) to encourage networking across research teams.