Four Directions Summer ResearchStipend & Support
FDSRP will provide you with the essentials to thrive during and after your summer in Boston.
We provide the following essentials:
- Transportation to and from Boston
- Single rooms in the Harvard Medical School student dormitory
- Living Stipend for food and other expenses
- Emergency Accident and Sickness Insurance
SeminarsCareer Development
Joseph Betancourt, MD, MPH – Speaker in Career Development Seminar
Dr. Joseph Betancourt is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Disparities Solutions Center at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital. His work seeks to indentify and address racial/ethnic disparities in health care., both through research and training of health system leaders working to improve the health of minority communities.
Dr. Betancourt is committed to FDSRP given its unique ability to address the underrepresentation of Native Americans in the health professions, along with this population’s very significant health care needs. He has seen the ability of the FDSRP to advance the careers of committed and promising students. In particular, Dr. Betancourt has been continuosly impressed with the student’s level of dedication to their work, as well as the growth in their confidence over the summer.
Rebecca Baron, MD – Faculty Research Mentor
Dr. Rebecca Baron is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and has an active research program in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Pulmonary Medicine. Her laboratory studies lung injury using mouse models and molecular pathways of lung inflammation.
Dr. Baron feels as though the FDSRP research mentors learn as much from the students as she hopes the students learn from the mentors. She sees one of the most important benefits of the FDSRP for students is the creation of many opportunities beyond the initial summer research experience. She can recall FSDRP students that have worked with her and gone on to successfully apply to medical school, and she feels these students have been truly inspired to follow this path by their experience in FDSRP. Importantly, Dr. Baron reports keeping in close contact with the majority of her prior students far after their initial summer research experience.
Alumni SPOTLIGHT
Rodney C. Haring, PhD, LMSW – FDSRP 1995
For Rodney C. Haring, PhD, LMSW, FDSRP was a stone in the foundation of his career and helped to shape him into the professional he is today. Offered the opportunity to shadow clinicians in many different areas of the health care field while in Boston, Rodney discovered his true calling as a social worker. The support of his mentors at FDSRP was integral to his academic progression, eventually leading him to become the first ever Haudenosaunee doctorate level social worker in the history of the Seneca Nation of Indians.
Rodney was born and raised on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians, where it was always his goal to work with his community. “The program was crucial in my development not only as a student but as a Native person navigating in two worlds: life on the reservation and how that interplayed with academics and scientific research,” says Rodney. “FDSRP gave me support, guidance, and most of all confidence.”
After completing the program, Rodney transferred to the State University of New York at Stony Brook and earned a dual degree in psychology and social interdisciplinary studies. He then attended the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Social Work, where he received both a masters and a doctoral degree.
Rodney returned home where he established the first social work private practice on Seneca Territories and the first 100% American Indian owned, nationwide provider of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services. His firm, One Feather Consulting, works with tribes across North America as an EAP, as well as providing various consulting services including market research, organizational development, social impact studies, and program evaluation services.