Nursing Professoriate Pathway Program

The UCLA School of Nursing has been selected as a recipient of the UC Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative. This prestigious program is designed to attract underrepresented students to doctoral programs with the long-term goal of developing nursing faculty that reflects California’s diversity. Spearheaded by UCLA Nursing Professor Robert Lucero, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, the UCLA initiative, Nursing Professoriate Pathway Program: From Bench-to-Community, will work to recruit and support underrepresented students over the next five years. The plan calls for network level interventions and will leverage the relationships and expertise of five federally designated Hispanic Serving Institutions and two health care systems across southern California. The UCLA School of Nursing’s partner institutions include, Mount Saint Mary’s University Nursing Department, California State University – Los Angeles School of Nursing, California State University – Long Beach School of Nursing, California State University – Channel Islands School of Nursing, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing, UCLA Health Department of Nursing, & Cedars-Sinai Department of Nursing.

UCLA-HSI-Clinical Community Alliance Leadership

The 4-Week Summer Immersion Experience

The goal of the 4-weeks summer immersion experience is to provide knowledge and skills needed to conduct academic research and pursue a career in the professoriate. Trainees will engage in research activities at least 20 hours per week, including but not limited to one-on-one meetings with mentor dyad, host lab meetings, journal clubs, research presentations/seminars relevant to the host lab, and mentee’s independent research. The approach to this experience will use an apprenticeship model. Trainees will be provided an orientation to their respective host labs on the first day of the program. Research will be conducted locally (i.e., UCLA Faculty Research Mentors’ lab) or clinically (UCLA Health or Cedars-Sinai) with mentors’ supervision. We will deliver the 3-4 hour didactic curriculum during morning sessions, Monday-Thursday. This will allow trainees to focus on their research and engage with their host lab during the afternoon and all-day Friday. Trainees will also join evening sessions to complement the material discussed each day. Continuous engagement beyond the summer months is expected of trainees. Trainees will meet with their Mentor at least once a quarter and may be asked to attend NP3 program activities and events throughout the academic year. 

NP3: From Bench-to-Community Draft Curriculum