In response to national efforts to improve the quality of education in clinical research, the Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University requests renewal of K-30 grant funding to support a postgraduate education program for clinical investigators.
The specific aim i s to sustain and continue to develop an outstanding didactic and mentored program, so that upon completion of training, clinical investigators can more effectively conduct clinical research and compete successfully for research funding. Recognized as an institution of excellence in clinical medicine, Emory has made a strong commitment to clinical research career development. To provide formal postgraduate education in clinical research, a Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) degree and clinical research curriculum award (CRCA) program has been established and the program has enrolled or graduated 49 participants. Currently, 27 are graduates or in thesis status anticipating graduation in Spring, 2004, 11 students are in the current class and the remaining 11 have taken courses in special status. The participants represent a broad spectrum of clinical backgrounds. Currently, the 49 participants of Emory's CRCA/MSCR program have collectively received as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator over 65 new awards, including 19 NIH awards as Pi and 17 other NIH awards. The program has evolved through continuing student, faculty, executive and advisory committee input to include changes to the curriculum and faculty, rotations in the Emory General Clinical Research Center, and Emory Institutional Review Board and enhancements to the grant writing and ethics courses. Emory's NIH K-12 Emory Mentored Clinical Research Scholars award, NIH Fogarty and other innovative student support programs have enhanced student enrollment. The CRCA/MSCR program represents a strong collaboration between the Emory Schools of Medicine and Public Health and has the enthusiastic support of the Emory administration and faculty. Participants in this program come from a large pool of over 1,200 graduate clinicians in postdoctoral fellowships, junior faculty and other doctorally prepared individuals committed to clinical research. The curriculum of the CRCA/MSCR program emphasizes analytic sciences including statistical reasoning, decision analysis, probability theory, analytic epidemiology and informatics; the principles of bioethics, clinical trials design, regulations involving human subjects, scientific writing, the responsible conduct of clinical research; and the integration of the basic sciences into clinical research. Important new features of the program are the expanded leadership of the CRCA/MSCR, increased emphasis on faculty mentoring and the mentored thesis in clinical research, the expanded special curriculum of the CRCA program, the use of the CRCA to promote clinical research education at Emory University and in Atlanta and the model for ongoing program assessment.
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