Question
use the text a new diection to answer the question. A New Direction: by Tracy Vonder Brink
41
The kids and teens
of the Mayo Clinic’s
Pediatric Advisory
Board are changing
how research is done.
Physician Paul Croarkin is testing
a new treatment for depression
in kids and teens, and he’s come
to a hospital advisory board for
help. He presents a slideshow
explaining his research, then asks the board
members what they think of his presentation.
He also wants to know how he could find
volunteers for his project, something he’s
had trouble doing. The board members ask
questions and give suggestions, and Croarkin,
a psychiatrist, listens carefully and plans how
to use what they tell him. But these board
members aren’t other doctors or scientists;
they’re not even adults. This board is a group
of kids ages 11 to 17. They’re the Mayo Clinic’s
Pediatric Advisory Board.
42
Why Kids?
An advisory board is a group of
volunteers who give suggestions and
guidance. A business might use an
advisory board to find out if people
like a new product. In science and
medicine, advisory boards are often
used to give recommendations and
direction on studies and projects
about health. For example, an
advisory board might suggest how a
researcher could make volunteers feel
more comfortable during a study. But
most advisory boards are made up of
adults. The Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric
Advisory Board is the first of its kind.
Why set up a board of only kids?
The Mayo Clinic already had an
adult advisory board, but more and
more topics that involved kids were
being brought to it. So Christi Patten,
a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, thought
it might be valuable to put together
a pediatric version. (Pediatric is the
medical term for kids.) After all, if
studies are focus on health topics that
affect young people, who better to ask
than the kids themselves? Patten and
other board organizers decided to run
the board just like the adult one—the
only difference would be the age of the
volunteers. A community outreach
coordinator at Mayo Clinic reached
out to teens to invite them. At first the
board organizers wanted teens ages
14 to 17. But younger kids were also
interested in joining, so they expanded
the age range down to 11.
Xavier Felder, 14, has been with
the board from its start, since April
of 2019. He says he decided to join
“because I wanted to know about
diseases and what they’re doing
about them, and new treatments.”
The young board members went
through the same training as adult
advisory boards, learning about the
rules doctors and scientists have to
follow and what the different types
of research are.
How It Works
The Pediatric Advisory Board gets
together four times a year to give
their advice to researchers. Each
meeting lasts close to two hours.
Before researchers go before the
Xavier Felder, fourth from
left in the top row, poses
with fellow members of
the Mayo Clinic Pediatric
Advisory Board.
After a presentation
to the group, Dr.
Paul Croarkin asks
for feedback on
aspects of his study
on kids and teens.
text © 2020 by Tracy Vonder Brink
43
board, they meet with the group’s
organizers to talk about how they’ll
present. They’re limited to five slides
and are reminded to make topics clear
and understandable. They might also
plan to break into smaller discussion
groups after the presentation.
Xavier says his favorite part of
the meetings is talking with the
researchers. “I like when we can ask
them questions about their topic. I get
fascinated by the different diseases
they study . . . things I’ve never heard
of before,” he says. Does talking to
doctors and scientists ever make the
kids nervous? Xavier says no. “The
first couple of times I didn’t know
everybody in the group, so we did
some ice breakers,” he explains. “Now
that I know the people in the group,
I’m not nervous. If someone else asks
a question I was thinking of, I just
think of another question.”
Helping Researchers
When Croarkin presented to the board,
he asked for suggestions on reaching
kids and teens who might want to
try his treatment for depression. He
showed the advisory board flyers he’d
THE MAYO CLINIC
The Mayo Clinic started in the 1880s
as a small clinic run by the Mayo
brothers in Rochester, Minnesota. The
brothers were surgeons, and they
wanted to create a group practice
where patients could see a team of
specialists all in one place. Within 30
years it had become known around the
world for its quality of care. Today more
than a million patients go to the Mayo
Clinic every year, and it has locations in
five states.
printed that described the treatment.
Instead of the flyers, they suggested
he use social media and places where
kids already were—like school—to
help get the word out. So he presented
to a local school board and was given
permission to post information about
his project on the school’s resource
page. He admits he wouldn’t have
thought of using a school to look
for volunteers if the group hadn’t
suggested it. “They were even more on
point with their advice than the adult
advisory board,” he says.
Physician Sarah Atunah-Jay and
health care analyst Gladys Asiedu
were also impressed by the Pediatric
Advisory Board. They’re studying
how doctors can support kids who
are bullied about their race, ethnicity,
or weight. “The board brought up
that talking about these issues can
be very stressful and wanted to know
how we’d make kids participating in
the study feel safe and supported,”
Asiedu says. Atunah-Jay adds, “They
gave great feedback on the focus
group guide and will also be involved
with data analysis.”
The Future of the
Advisory Board
Folks at the Mayo Clinic hope other
hospitals and research centers will
start their own pediatric advisory
boards. They’ve found that kids have
different experiences and insights
than grown-ups, so their feedback
is different from an adult advisory
board. For example, when AtunahJay and Asiedu presented to the
two boards, the adults wanted to
know how the study information
would be used, but the younger
group had questions about how
kids who joined the study might
be affected. Both types of feedback
are important for researchers.
Atunah-Jay explains, “Our work isn’t
valid unless we consult kids. This
is research that has an impact on
them, so they need to be involved.”
Being on the board has made
Xavier interested in a career in
science. “It opened my eyes to other
careers in science than just being a
doctor,” he says. “You can work in a
lab or be a researcher.” What would
he say to kids if a pediatric advisory
board comes to their community?
“I’d tell kids to get involved,” he says.
“If more kids join things like this,
you have more voices, so the
feedback and ideas are more diverse.
It might sound like it would be
boring, but it’s not. It’s fun, and
you get to help people.”
Tracy Vonder Brink is a writer from
Cincinnati, Ohio. She would’ve loved to join
a Pediatric Advisory Board as a kid. (What
could be cooler than learning about
science and telling researchers what to do?)
She thanks the Mayo Clinic community
members who lent their voices and
insights to this article. Which is an example of an interpretitive question? (1 point) What are the ages of the kids on the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
What are the ages of the kids on the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
What is the topic of the study that Dr. Croarkin presented to the advisory board?
What is the topic of the study that Dr. Croarkin presented to the advisory board?
Why did Xavier Felder want to join the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
Why did Xavier Felder want to join the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
How effective is the author’s explanation of why researchers use advisory boards?
How effective is the author’s explanation of why researchers use advisory boards?
Skip to navigation
41
The kids and teens
of the Mayo Clinic’s
Pediatric Advisory
Board are changing
how research is done.
Physician Paul Croarkin is testing
a new treatment for depression
in kids and teens, and he’s come
to a hospital advisory board for
help. He presents a slideshow
explaining his research, then asks the board
members what they think of his presentation.
He also wants to know how he could find
volunteers for his project, something he’s
had trouble doing. The board members ask
questions and give suggestions, and Croarkin,
a psychiatrist, listens carefully and plans how
to use what they tell him. But these board
members aren’t other doctors or scientists;
they’re not even adults. This board is a group
of kids ages 11 to 17. They’re the Mayo Clinic’s
Pediatric Advisory Board.
42
Why Kids?
An advisory board is a group of
volunteers who give suggestions and
guidance. A business might use an
advisory board to find out if people
like a new product. In science and
medicine, advisory boards are often
used to give recommendations and
direction on studies and projects
about health. For example, an
advisory board might suggest how a
researcher could make volunteers feel
more comfortable during a study. But
most advisory boards are made up of
adults. The Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric
Advisory Board is the first of its kind.
Why set up a board of only kids?
The Mayo Clinic already had an
adult advisory board, but more and
more topics that involved kids were
being brought to it. So Christi Patten,
a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, thought
it might be valuable to put together
a pediatric version. (Pediatric is the
medical term for kids.) After all, if
studies are focus on health topics that
affect young people, who better to ask
than the kids themselves? Patten and
other board organizers decided to run
the board just like the adult one—the
only difference would be the age of the
volunteers. A community outreach
coordinator at Mayo Clinic reached
out to teens to invite them. At first the
board organizers wanted teens ages
14 to 17. But younger kids were also
interested in joining, so they expanded
the age range down to 11.
Xavier Felder, 14, has been with
the board from its start, since April
of 2019. He says he decided to join
“because I wanted to know about
diseases and what they’re doing
about them, and new treatments.”
The young board members went
through the same training as adult
advisory boards, learning about the
rules doctors and scientists have to
follow and what the different types
of research are.
How It Works
The Pediatric Advisory Board gets
together four times a year to give
their advice to researchers. Each
meeting lasts close to two hours.
Before researchers go before the
Xavier Felder, fourth from
left in the top row, poses
with fellow members of
the Mayo Clinic Pediatric
Advisory Board.
After a presentation
to the group, Dr.
Paul Croarkin asks
for feedback on
aspects of his study
on kids and teens.
text © 2020 by Tracy Vonder Brink
43
board, they meet with the group’s
organizers to talk about how they’ll
present. They’re limited to five slides
and are reminded to make topics clear
and understandable. They might also
plan to break into smaller discussion
groups after the presentation.
Xavier says his favorite part of
the meetings is talking with the
researchers. “I like when we can ask
them questions about their topic. I get
fascinated by the different diseases
they study . . . things I’ve never heard
of before,” he says. Does talking to
doctors and scientists ever make the
kids nervous? Xavier says no. “The
first couple of times I didn’t know
everybody in the group, so we did
some ice breakers,” he explains. “Now
that I know the people in the group,
I’m not nervous. If someone else asks
a question I was thinking of, I just
think of another question.”
Helping Researchers
When Croarkin presented to the board,
he asked for suggestions on reaching
kids and teens who might want to
try his treatment for depression. He
showed the advisory board flyers he’d
THE MAYO CLINIC
The Mayo Clinic started in the 1880s
as a small clinic run by the Mayo
brothers in Rochester, Minnesota. The
brothers were surgeons, and they
wanted to create a group practice
where patients could see a team of
specialists all in one place. Within 30
years it had become known around the
world for its quality of care. Today more
than a million patients go to the Mayo
Clinic every year, and it has locations in
five states.
printed that described the treatment.
Instead of the flyers, they suggested
he use social media and places where
kids already were—like school—to
help get the word out. So he presented
to a local school board and was given
permission to post information about
his project on the school’s resource
page. He admits he wouldn’t have
thought of using a school to look
for volunteers if the group hadn’t
suggested it. “They were even more on
point with their advice than the adult
advisory board,” he says.
Physician Sarah Atunah-Jay and
health care analyst Gladys Asiedu
were also impressed by the Pediatric
Advisory Board. They’re studying
how doctors can support kids who
are bullied about their race, ethnicity,
or weight. “The board brought up
that talking about these issues can
be very stressful and wanted to know
how we’d make kids participating in
the study feel safe and supported,”
Asiedu says. Atunah-Jay adds, “They
gave great feedback on the focus
group guide and will also be involved
with data analysis.”
The Future of the
Advisory Board
Folks at the Mayo Clinic hope other
hospitals and research centers will
start their own pediatric advisory
boards. They’ve found that kids have
different experiences and insights
than grown-ups, so their feedback
is different from an adult advisory
board. For example, when AtunahJay and Asiedu presented to the
two boards, the adults wanted to
know how the study information
would be used, but the younger
group had questions about how
kids who joined the study might
be affected. Both types of feedback
are important for researchers.
Atunah-Jay explains, “Our work isn’t
valid unless we consult kids. This
is research that has an impact on
them, so they need to be involved.”
Being on the board has made
Xavier interested in a career in
science. “It opened my eyes to other
careers in science than just being a
doctor,” he says. “You can work in a
lab or be a researcher.” What would
he say to kids if a pediatric advisory
board comes to their community?
“I’d tell kids to get involved,” he says.
“If more kids join things like this,
you have more voices, so the
feedback and ideas are more diverse.
It might sound like it would be
boring, but it’s not. It’s fun, and
you get to help people.”
Tracy Vonder Brink is a writer from
Cincinnati, Ohio. She would’ve loved to join
a Pediatric Advisory Board as a kid. (What
could be cooler than learning about
science and telling researchers what to do?)
She thanks the Mayo Clinic community
members who lent their voices and
insights to this article. Which is an example of an interpretitive question? (1 point) What are the ages of the kids on the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
What are the ages of the kids on the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
What is the topic of the study that Dr. Croarkin presented to the advisory board?
What is the topic of the study that Dr. Croarkin presented to the advisory board?
Why did Xavier Felder want to join the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
Why did Xavier Felder want to join the Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric Advisory Board?
How effective is the author’s explanation of why researchers use advisory boards?
How effective is the author’s explanation of why researchers use advisory boards?
Skip to navigation
Answers
Answer
are you sure try again and show me how u got that answer
Answer
so what do YOU think it is based off the information you gave me?
Answer
nvm
Answered by
GPT 3.5
What is the author's opinion on the importance of kids being involved in advisory boards like the Mayo Clinic's Pediatric Advisory Board?
Answered by
GPT 3.5
An interpretive question involves analyzing and interpreting information from the text rather than just recalling specific details. In this case, the question "What is the author's opinion on the importance of kids being involved in advisory boards like the Mayo Clinic's Pediatric Advisory Board?" requires understanding the author's perspective on the topic based on the information provided in the text. This question goes beyond simply recalling information and requires interpreting the author's viewpoint.
Answered by
GPT 3.5
Based on the information provided in the text, the question "What is the author's opinion on the importance of kids being involved in advisory boards like the Mayo Clinic's Pediatric Advisory Board?" is an interpretive question as it asks for an analysis of the author's perspective rather than a direct factual answer. The text indicates that the author finds value in kids being involved in advisory boards and views their feedback as important for researchers.
Answered by
GPT 3.5
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