The objective is to renew and increase MSTP funding for the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (UCCOM) Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP) which contributes well-trained physician-scientists to the national biomedical research, teaching and patient care enterprise. UCCOM and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have a large research base and infrastructure with faculty and graduate programs of sufficient breadth, depth, and extramural support to increase the number of PSTP matriculants from 6 to 10 students per year. Increasing student numbers will give greater critical mass, institutional visibility and stability. MSTP funding has given us greater recognition as a first-rate program and we have doubled the number of applications from top quality students over the past 4 years. Applicants are evaluated on 1) undergraduate course and research accomplishments, 2) the quality and substance of recommendation letters, 3) performance on MCAT and/or GRE, 4) statement of career goals and perception of the value of the combined M.D. /PhD. degree in reaching these goals, and 5) evidence of significant exploration of research and health care opportunities afforded by gaining the M.D. /PhD. degree. Recruitment of underrepresented minorities continues as a major priority of the program. Minimum combined degree requirements are: basic science foundation courses in medicine, advanced graduate courses and electives, Ph.D. qualifying exam, Ph.D. dissertation and its defense, Legal &Ethical Issues in Research and Medicine, Clinical Foundations of Medical Practice, USMLE parts I and II, clinical competency, clinical clerkships and an acting internship. Programmatic components, including orientation, the M.D./PhD. student organization, physician advisors, biomedical science series, biweekly lunch meetings, a distinguished lecturer series, senior flex time, and social events, combine to create an outstanding environment to foster the growth and development of physician-scientists. Physician-scientists are individually trained to combine the width of knowledge of medical practice with the depth of rigorous scientific investigation. As such, they are individuals who are able to make clinical observations, develop hypotheses to test in the laboratory and bring the resulting discoveries back to clinical practice. To capitalize on the recent advances in sequencing the genome and in molecular medicine, we need well-trained physician-scientists with both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees to improve health care outcomes.
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