Communication Skills to Build a Diverse Biomedical Workforce

NCT05048290 | Withdrawn

• 2 other identifiers: 2019-1010NCI-2020-04436
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: N/A
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This trial investigates how receiving instruction in communication skills affects short and long-term career outcomes for students, postdoctoral fellows, and future faculty. This may help researchers learn more about the factors that may help or block career goals and career persistence of trainees.

Conditions

Behavioral Disorder

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Degree completion rates

  Will be assessed in both summer students and junior mentors.

  Through study completion, an average of 1 year

Study Arms (2)

Group I (communication workshops, video, surveys)

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants complete 2 communication workshops about conversational skills and development of a video about the summer student's research experience over 3 hours each during the second week of the summer research experience and 2-3 weeks before the conclusion of summer experience. Participants also complete surveys over 15 minutes each about their communication, their engagement with research, mentoring experience, and current career intentions, before participating in the workshop, after the second workshop and at 6 months after the conclusion of the summer experience.

Other: Communication Skills Training; Other: Educational Intervention; Other: Survey Administration

Group II (generic communication workshops, surveys)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants complete 2 generic communication workshops about networking and presentation skills over 3 hours each during the second week of the summer experience and 2-3 weeks before the conclusion of summer experience. Participants also complete surveys over 15 minutes each about their communication, their engagement with research, mentoring experience, and current career intentions, before participating in the workshop, after the second workshop and at 6 months after the conclusion of the summer experience.

Other: Communication Skills Training; Other: Survey Administration

Interventions

Communication Skills Training OTHER

Participate in communication workshops

Group I (communication workshops, video, surveys)

Educational Intervention OTHER

Develop a video

Also known as: Education for Intervention, Intervention by Education, Intervention through Education, Intervention, Educational

Group I (communication workshops, video, surveys)

Survey Administration OTHER

Complete surveys

Group I (communication workshops, video, surveys); Group II (generic communication workshops, surveys)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• FOR SUMMER STUDENTS: Currently an undergraduate, medical student, or early Master's or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) level student who is participating in a structured summer research program and receiving daily research supervision from a junior mentor (defined as a Master's or PhD level graduate student, a postdoctoral fellow, or an instructor) within a faculty member's research team
• FOR JUNIOR MENTORS: Currently a Master's or PhD student; postdoctoral trainee; or instructor working within a faculty member's research team and supervising a summer research student

You may not qualify if:

• FOR SUMMER STUDENTS: High school students

Sponsors & Collaborators

• M.D. Anderson Cancer Center: lead
• National Cancer Institute (NCI): collaborator

Related Links

• M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Mental Disorders

Interventions

Early Intervention, Educational; Educational Status; Methods

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Health Services; Community Health Services; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services; Preventive Health Services; Socioeconomic Factors; Population Characteristics; Investigative Techniques

Study Officials

• Carrie Cameron

  M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2021
• First Posted: September 17, 2021
• Study Start: May 19, 2020
• Primary Completion: December 30, 2024
• Study Completion: December 30, 2024
• Last Updated: June 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-06