There is a clear need to train greater numbers of health care professionals in the conduct of clinical research with drug abusers. Yet few academic institutions involved in training health professionals have implemented coordinated efforts to stimulate and prepare individuals at the pre-doctoral level for careers in clinically oriented substance abuse research. The New York University School of Medicine (NYU SoM) and its collaborating partners propose to design, implement and evaluate a substance abuse research training program for medical, nursing and dental students. The purpose of this program is to stimulate participants'interest in pursuing careers in drug abuse research. Using highly interactive computer based educational technology we have developed for other training programs, we will create a flexible and content-rich Substance Abuse Research Education and Training (SARET) program to educate an interdisciplinary group of medical, advanced nursing and dental students about addiction and the fundamentals of clinical research. Learners, motivated by their participation in this curriculum, and supplemented by a faculty-facilitated discussion, problem-based learning sessions and research seminars, will then be offered participation in a broad range of NIDA-funded research opportunities, with options for stipend support, fostering research engagement with a seasoned mentor. The SARET program will be an interdisciplinary collaboration between the NYU School of Medicine (Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, and Advanced Educational Systems Laboratory), NYU's College of Nursing, and NYU's College of Dentistry. Our collaboration brings to this initiative extensive experience in developing and evaluating innovative approaches to health professional education and in substance abuse research and training. Working closely with our research, education and clinical partners (including a NIDA CTN node and Bellevue Hospital Center), we will develop, implement and evaluate this innovative and engaging educational platform. The SARET program will be simple to update and revise, easily exportable to other health professional schools and training programs, and effective in increasing the number of physicians, nurses and dentists who, stimulated by their participation in this initiative, will follow career paths that advance substance abuse-related clinical research. Despite the great toll substance abuse takes on society, the pace of discovery of new and effective prevention and treatment strategies is only modest, and major delays exist in translating such knowledge into improved population health. There is an urgent need to increase the number of health care professionals conducting clinically applicable research in substance abuse prevention and treatment. The goal of this grant, therefore, is to develop, implement and evaluate a web-based curriculum, supplemented by mentored research opportunities, that will stimulate medical, nursing and dental students to follow career paths that advance clinically-oriented research on substance abuse.
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