This proposal describes a short-term training program in biomedical research (STRTP) for medical students at the New York University School of Medicine.
The specific aim of the program is to provide opportunities for medical students to increase and enrich their understanding of basic and translational biomedical sciences. The intention is to motivate a subset of medical students toward academic careers that include investigation and to broaden the perspective of those students who will ultimately choose clinical careers. The underlying rationale for the program is that it is of benefit to the health status to the nation to train physicians in basic biomedical research. Such physicians will be better prepared to evaluate new therapies and procedures and continue to carry out basic or applied research while participating in health care delivery. The design of the program is such that students participate in original research in professional academic laboratories while in daily contact with professional scientists. The students regularly review the current literature under the supervision of the training faculty. Areas of research are 1) Genetics and Developmental Biology, 2) Gene Regulation and Expression, 3) Infectious Diseases, 4) Immunology, 5) Cancer Biology, 6) Environmental Health Sciences, 7) Neural Sciences, and 8) Structural Biology. Training is available during the summers between the first and second, and second and third years of medical school and, in some cases, extends into elective time during the third and fourth years of medical school. Participants are encouraged to enroll in two training periods during their four year medical school curriculum. It is expected that many trainees will earn co-authorship on peer-reviewed articles. Those trainees who complete two periods of STRTP research are eligible to write and defend orally a thesis that can form the basis upon which the School of Medicine will recognize the student's accomplishment by awarding at graduation honors in a basic science. Independent research is supplemented by programmatic activities that include journal clubs, a poster presentation competition and a series of prestigious state-of -the-art lectures delivered by invited speakers from the international community of biomedical scientists.
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