The University of Minnesota Medical School is committed to the recruitment, enrollment, research instruction, and mentoring of a diverse group of high quality medical students with aspirations of a career in academic medicine. Nevertheless, we understand that our physician-scientist training programs for medical students are currently insufficient to meet our goals. Based on surveys of medical students, as well as on an analysis by a faculty-driven Medical Student Research Task Force, we have identified research training in the summer between years 1 and 2 as the critical opportunity to capture the interests and talents of academically minded medical students. Thus, this T35 application for a Medical Student Summer Research Program in Infection and Immunity represents our plan to increase the availability and quality of medical student research instruction and mentorship. In addition, we propose to use this summer research program as a vehicle to enhance the diversity of our physician-scientist pipeline. Our long-term objective is to significantly increase the number and diversity of medical students that obtain paid employment in medical research, that publish during medical school, and that eventually enter into physician-scientist training pathway residency programs. Daniel Mueller, MD, will lead this T35 program. He has a breadth of experience in academic medicine including a) a laboratory-based research program that includes both fundamental and human-oriented research into autoimmune disease pathogenesis, b) medical leadership as a division director, c) an extensive undergraduate and pre-doctoral training record, and d) direct patient care in Rheumatology. Mueller also has a track record of success in the development and implementation of summer research programs. Mueller will be assisted by numerous Medical School leaders with records of success in research and mentorship, and will receive additional financial support from the Dean of the Medical School. A total of 20 outstanding Center for Immunology faculty members will serve as preceptors for 5 summer students in year 1, and increasing to 9 students in year 5 of the grant. Students will receive direct instruction in scientific investigation for a period of 2 months. Training experiences will include the writing of a formal Specific Aims Page proposal, as well as a Progress Report final summary of their research. Students will also receive weekly instruction that relates the function of the immune system to human health. In addition, fellows will prepare and present a poster of their research results, both to the Center for Immunology faculty as well as to the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Finally, trainees will receive longitudinal mentorship regarding the physician-scientist career path throughout their medical school experience. Success in this program will be monitored both through longitudinal surveys of students and training faculty and through oversight by Internal and External Advisory committees.
There is currently a shortage of medical student trainees who are entering into careers in academic medicine as physician-scientists; furthermore, diversity in the pool of physician-scientist pathway trainees fails to reflect the diversity of our communities. This training program entitled 'Medical Student Summer Research Program in Infection and Immunity' aims to augment medical research-training opportunities and mentorship for a diverse pool of medical students at the University of Minnesota Medical School by taking advantage of the strength of our immunological sciences. With success in this effort, an increased and more diverse proportion of our medical student population will enter into physician-scientist training pathway residency programs.
