by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
A program aimed at undergraduate students wanting to do mental health research recently received a $1.39 million grant extension.
The Career Opportunities in Research Program was up for review this summer and has gained eligibility for another five years. The 15-year-old program gives 11 UNM undergraduate students the opportunity to partake in mental health research.
Phillip May, project director of the program, said in order for the program to continue, universities must reapply for the grant every five years. The National Institute of Mental Health issues the grant, and universities are reviewed by scholars outside the government to maintain eligibility.
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May said there were several universities that lost the program during the renewal process. The number of universities with the federally funded program are dwindling, he said, but UNM's program continues to do well.
"The competition is getting more stiff," he said. "We have a pretty good reputation and good results."
Since the program was organized at UNM in the late 1980s, 18 students enrolled in the program have completed their doctorates, and more than 30 students received their master's degrees, May said.
The National Institute of Mental Health funds nine students at the University, while UNM funds two students. The program pays for tuition, course materials, supplies for individual research and travel fees.
May said the funding allows students to concentrate on their undergraduate studies and individual research projects within the program.
"It gives people a head start in mental health research and sophisticated scientific research even before they arrive in graduate school," May said. "It expands the manpower of the people who can do mental health research in New Mexico."
Valerie Martinez, a UNM student and alumna of the program, said the program changed her life.
"It was the best thing that happened to me," Martinez said. "It was both career-building and knowledge-building."
Martinez said she is applying to medical school for next year, something she never pictured herself doing.
"It geared me toward exactly what I want to do," she said. "I went from wanting to major in psychology to actually wanting to go to medical school. I would have never have guessed that - not even a thought about it."
She said the program was helpful because she was able to concentrate on her research and undergraduate studies. She received about $900 a month for being enrolled in the program, she said.
"Now that I'm not in the program, I'm super poor," she said, laughing. "Before, I was paid to do schoolwork."
Martinez worked on a number of research projects while enrolled in the program, she said, including the analysis of communication skills of homeless adolescents.
The program allowed her to work with professionals in the field of medicine for two consecutive summers at the National Institutes of Health, one of the world's most prestigious medical research centers.
May said he applied for the program grant in the late '80s to further interest students in the field of mental health. The grant was originally limited to minorities but has since changed. May said when he applied for the grant, he asked the University to match the funding of the federal government to allow any student to enroll in the program, regardless of their ethnicity.
"I thought it was important to be open for everyone," he said.
UNM has since continued to fund two students in the program.
The majority of the students in the program are minorities, making up 80 percent enrollment in the program.
