Earning Criteria

• Badge earners attended 5 or more Professional Development Workshops, providing them with the tools and resources to inform and clarify their next steps on the research pathway. There were 7 weekly workshops: What is Research, Collaborative Learning, Imposter Syndrome is Very Real, Health Equity and Research for Change, Applying to Graduate School, Identity and Personal Story in Research, and Budgeting and Financing Graduate Studies
• Badge earners engaged with Doctoral Scholars (Leadership Alliance program alumni who received a PhD or MD/PhD and work in academia, industry, or government) throughout the program. These conversations expanded professional networks and provided diverse perspectives on applying research and scholarship to social justice issues and health disparities. Sharing career trajectories affirms, empowers, and motivates earners to pursue research careers based in a variety of career sectors.
• Badge earners visited 4 or more Leadership Alliance member institutions at virtual recruitment events, broadening their understanding of and increasing their preparedness for competitive PhD programs in multiple disciplines. Presenting institutions included Brown, Caltech, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Montana State, New York, Princeton, Tufts, Yale University, Dartmouth College, CU Boulder, UMBC, UMiami, UPenn, UVA, UChicago, and Weill Cornell Medicine.