Date of official affiliation approval: May 17, 2023
Institution: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, IRB approved

Study: A one-time anonymous Google survey will be sent out asking about demographic information, personal history with mental health, and students’ medical school experience. A PHQ-9 assessing depression will also be sent out as part of the Google survey. This survey will take approximately 4 minutes to complete.

End product: Our results will guide the creation of additional and specific mental health support resources for Asian Americans in medical school.

Goals: This project aims to investigate the relationship between depression and engagement in professional mental health services among Asian American medical students. We hypothesize that those who engage in mental health services are less likely to experience depressive symptoms.

Student: ​Kailynn Yang (she/her), Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, kyang4@luc.edu
PI: Dr. Eugene Suh

Date of official affiliation approval: May 3, 2023
Institution: University of Maryland, College Park, IRB approved

Study: The procedures involve completing an online survey through Qualtrics consisting of several questionnaires. You will be asked items relating to your attitudes toward your own racial identity, race and racism, activism and psychological distress, and demographic information. Sample items include, “When both White people and people of my race are present in a social situation, I prefer to be with my own racial group”, “Asian Americans should be involved in other racial minority groups’ struggles,” and “I confront my acquaintances when they do or say something that racially stereotypes or discriminates.” This survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

End product: Poster and paper

Goals: The results may help the investigator learn more about the psychological factors surrounding race and racism for Asian Americans. We hope that, in the future, other people might benefit from this study through improved understanding of Asian American attitudes, experiences, and actions regarding race and racism. As Asian Americans have traditionally faced a divisive comparison to other racial minority groups, the factors surrounding Asian American interminority solidarity are especially relevant in our diverse society and may be utilized in future coalition-building efforts.

Student: Joyce Li, jli12329@terpmail.umd.edu
PI: Derek Iwamoto, M Pease

Date of official affiliation approval: 6/28/23
Institution: Yale School of Medicine

Study: Through the last two-and-a-half years with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a rise in imminent worries about health and safety and experienced an increased number of threats from the rising bigotries against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) individuals. We create Acting Together Program to adequately support healthcare professional trainees to mitigate possible trauma and to enhance patient care through an innovative interactive theater teaching approach. Four pilot studies will be conducted to evaluate preliminary outcomes of the Acting Together program. Study #1: Assess recognition of implicit bias among participants. Study #2: Assess feasibility and acceptability of Acting Together Program. Study #3: Assess program impacts on participants when facing cultural dilemma in clinical settings. Study #4: Qualitative focus group to explore program participants’ experiences. Results from this pilot program will lay the groundwork for future study of improv/theater approach on clinical cultural competency curriculum and wellness among minority trainees. While this pilot program aims to start with AAPI trainees, our vision is to expand to other trainees who are identified as marginalized and disadvantaged. Given the digitally delivered program, this initiative holds promise for cultural informed education at the national and international levels. Acting Together Program is a nationwide effort including significant contributors from partnership sites who are clinician educators in the field of the child and adolescent psychiatry, including Stanford School of Medicine (Dr Steve Sust), Tufts Medical Center (Dr Neha Sharma), and MedStar Georgetown University (Dr Jessica Ouyang). Their roles include coordinating webinars and trainees from their sites to participate in this project, as well as mentorship on the project progress. Moreover, leaderships in the AAPI field including Drs B Li, Jhemon Lee and Russell Jeung are graciously providing expertise consultation to support this project. In addition, we hope to partner with professional organizations such as Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) and Asian American Pacific Islander Nurses Association (AAPINA) to recruit healthcare professional trainees who may be best benefit from this program. Dr Eunice Yuen (PI of this study) will be in close contact with all the significant contributors, expertise consults, and partnership organizations throughout the project.

End product: APAMSA will be acknowledged in all our webinars, project presentations, and publications. All supporting faculty and students will be recognized for their contributions and consultation in the scholarship projects in the acknowledgement statement. 

Goals: Acting Together will connect AAPI healthcare trainees in webinars to 1) reflect and grow personally and professionally with improvisation training, which are known for essential team communication, relational health, and creating supportive space. Trainees will then 2) immerse into cultural dilemma scenarios in interactive theater to master proper response skills to everyday prejudice, bias, and stereotypes in clinical training environments. Peer and mentorship support will be available for the participants.

Student: Sarah Ho, sarah.ho@yale.edu
PI: Eunice Yuen, MD, PhD

Date of official affiliation approval: 7/7/23
Institution and grant funding: University of South Carolina; Doctoral dissertation improvement grant ($600) Sociology department, UofSC; Faucette Research grant ($250) Women’s and Gender studies department, UofSC, This study was approved as exempt by the IRB at the University of South Carolina (Pro00126673).

Study description: The study aims to explore the individual and systemic constraints experienced by LGBTQ+ health care professionals and students by (a) comparing LGBTQ+ health care professional and student experiences with stress, coping, and patient care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) identifying systemic health care stressors that influence quality of care and the health of LGBTQ+ health care professionals; (c) expand current theories that explain the connection between workplace environment, health care professional wellbeing, and identity-related stress and coping. Using a repeated-cross sectional design, the study builds upon a survey study conducted in 2016 by researchers affiliated with GLMA: Healthcare Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality (Eliason, Streed, & Henne 2018). The survey is expected to take 20 minutes to complete in Qualtrics software. The invitation letter is attached with consent information.

End product: The findings from this study will be published in academic journal articles and APAMSA will be thanked in the acknowledgement section. This dissertation project will advance the fields of sociology, social psychology, and public health by investigating significant gaps in contemporary identity, stress, and workplace theories that connect minoritized status to health, agency, and power.

Study goals: In addition to the theoretical implications of this research, the results will also inform political advocacy strategies with health professional organization and regulatory agencies. Healthy healthcare professionals administer better patient care (Shanafelt et al. 2016). With the rising need for healthcare and a dwindling healthcare workforce, our nation is fast approaching a chasm of costly, inefficacious clinical management (Waizkins 2020). The study results will directly inform areas of greatest impact and highest feasibility for professional organizations and regulatory agencies advocating for care equity and efficacy.

Student: Atticus Wolfe, wolfea@email.sc.edu or 208-805-2364
PI:  Dr. Andrea Henderson,akhender@mailbox.sc.edu or 803-777-3123

Date of official affiliation approval: September 7, 2023
Institution: Quinnipiac University, IRB approved
Study: 1-hour long video interviews

End product: APAMSA will be included in the acknowledgements on the website where I publish the written vignettes.Goals:
1. Increase representation of immigrant stories
2. Understand how the subtle cultural differences of Asian immigrants to the US affect the
healthcare they receive.
3. Identify the cultural gaps that exist in the care of chronic conditions in patients who are
immigrants to this country.

Student: Tilan Karunanayake, MS (Tilan.Karunanayake@quinnipiac.edu)
PI: Tilan Karunanayake, MS (Tilan.Karunanayake@quinnipiac.edu)

Date of official affiliation approval: October 1, 2023

Study Description: The primary objectives of our research project, involving pre and post surveys conducted during Dr. Alice Lee’s talk on NSCLC in non-smoker Asian females have two objectives. First, we aim to gauge the audience’s baseline knowledge and awareness regarding NSCLC, its prevalence among non-smoker Asian females, and the associated risk factors and genetic mutations. The pre-survey will serve as a baseline assessment. Second, following Dr. Lee’s informative presentation, we intend to measure the impact of the talk by administering a post-survey. This survey will assess how effectively the presentation increased awareness, knowledge, and understanding of risk of NSCLC within the non-smoker Asian female population within the audience. 

End product: We will acknowledge national APAMSA’s/All of Us’s sponsorship prior to Dr. Lee’s talk. We hope to present our research at the National APAMSA Conference in March of 2024 – and will add all relevant logos and sponsors to our presentation.

Goals of Study:

1.   Raise awareness of NSCLC within non-smoker Asian females. Advocate for signs, symptoms, and potential preventative screening.
2.   As there is a growing AANHPI population in Arizona and a lack of community and research, we hope to grow the movement for need of research and raise awareness of AANHPI initiatives as put forth by National APAMSA specifically in the Arizona community.
3.   Bring attention for healthcare providers that may provide care to AANHPI individuals the risks for NSCLC in their patient population.
4.   Understand whether or not there is a need for change of current USPSTF recommendations to screening for lung cancer.
5.   Collaborate with physicians who are conducting similar studies across the United States (FACES study in NY).

PI: Joyce K. Lee-Iannotti, MD FAASM and Alice Lee, MD
Student: Stephen Yao, stephenyao@arizona.edu

Date of official affiliation approval:  October 3, 2023

Study Description: Race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) remain significant contributors to health inequities. San Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the most economically disadvantaged districts in San Francisco with over half of the population 200% below the federal poverty line. This makes it particularly important to understand how these social determinants affect ear, nose, and throat conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of evaluating as well as characterizing the incidence of ear, nose, and throat conditions like head and neck cancer and hearing loss in SF Chinatown. 

End product: Ultimately, we hope to utilize these results to inform future screening events and where we ought to focus our targeted screenings. If there are significant findings, we may publish or present this work at a conference and ideally utilize this data to secure future grant funding to provide screening to high risk populations. All of Us Research Program will be acknowledged in any published posters/research.

Goals: The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility and efficacy of community screening in evaluating ear, nose, and throat conditions (ie head and neck cancer or dysplasia) in a community-based setting in the Bay Area. 

PI: Dr. Megan Durr
Student: Connie Zhou (Connie.Zhou@ucsf.edu)