Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University At Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
J Cancer Educ. 2021 Jul;36(Suppl 1):55-61. doi: 10.1007/s13187-021-02035-w. Epub 2021 Jun 23.
Global fieldwork is an invaluable educational experience for students who aspire to pursue careers as global public health professionals and cancer experts. Student-led research projects can be mutually beneficial for students and host institutions by providing opportunities for bilateral learning, sharing resources, building databases, and ultimately creating uniquely informed multi-cultural health research relevant to global communities. The USA-host country partnerships can be delicate, requiring tactful approaches to the investment in the careers of students and the field projects. The US and host institutions must therefore be selective in determining which students have the privilege of participating in global field work. This paper examines the importance of grit as a character trait contributing to the success of student-led global health research projects. Grit has been explored at length as a predictor of student success in domestic educational experiences, yet is underrepresented in the context of global education, field training, and evaluation of research and learning outcomes. This manuscript utilizes testimonials of three public health graduate students recently returned from summer cancer epidemiology education training fellowships to explore the role that grit played in completion of their independent research projects. Ultimately, this paper discusses ways to identify grit in student applicants and to foster an improved capacity for grit before, during, and after their field experiences. We share the experiences with an aim of providing participant perspectives that may be used by educators, students, and administrators at US and international partner institutions to inform global research, experiential learning, and educational and training programs.
全球实地工作对于有志于成为全球公共卫生专业人员和癌症专家的学生来说是一种宝贵的教育体验。学生主导的研究项目可以为学生和主办机构带来互利的机会，提供双边学习、资源共享、建立数据库的机会，并最终创建与全球社区相关的独特知情的多元文化健康研究。美援主办国伙伴关系可能很微妙，需要采取巧妙的方法来投资学生的职业发展和实地项目。因此，美国和主办机构必须有选择性地确定哪些学生有参与全球实地工作的特权。本文探讨了毅力作为一种性格特征对学生主导的全球健康研究项目成功的重要性。毅力在国内教育经历中作为学生成功的预测因素已经得到了充分的探讨，但在全球教育、实地培训以及研究和学习成果的评估中，其代表性不足。本文利用最近从癌症流行病学教育培训奖学金暑期项目归来的三名公共卫生研究生的证言，探讨了毅力在他们独立研究项目完成中的作用。最终，本文讨论了在学生申请中识别毅力的方法，并在他们的实地经验之前、期间和之后培养更好的毅力能力。我们分享这些经验，旨在为教育工作者、学生和美国及国际合作机构的管理人员提供参与者的观点，以告知全球研究、体验式学习以及教育和培训计划。
