The goal of this proposal is to improve the education and training of clinical investigator trainees at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. This goal will be accomplished by creating a curriculum and learning environment at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center for multidisciplinary training in clinical research that provides the fundamental skills, methodology, theories, and conceptualizations necessary for a well-trained, independent, clinical researcher to be successful in academic medicine, successfully compete for research funding and to make important contributions to the advancement of medicine and medical science. Clinical research is patient-based and includes (1) patient-oriented research - including mechanisms of human disease, therapeutic interventions, clinical trials, and the development of new technologies; (2) epidemiologic and behavioral studies; and (3) outcomes and health services research. The specific objectives and implementation strategies are: (1) Create and implement a new degree program - Masters Degree in Clinical Investigation (M.C.I.) - for clinical research trainees focusing on patient-oriented research; (2) Expand the existing Masters in Public Health (M.P.H.) program for clinical research trainees focusing on epidemiologic/behavioral research or outcomes/health services research so that trainees can matriculate into the program annually instead of biannually; (3) Implement an integrated core curriculum that brings together trainees from both the M.C.I. and M.P.H. programs; (4) Recruit talented clinical research trainees into our clinical research curriculum and clinical research degree programs; (5) Implement a strategy to encourage and support women and minority applicants and trainees; (6) Evaluate the design and implementation of the each of the curricula through both process and outcomes evaluation methods; and (7) Implement continuous quality improvement procedures that will improve the process and outcomes of the curricular components, overall curriculum, and overall program. The proposed curriculum is designed to be both didactic and experiential and follows the conceptual model of adult learning theory. Program participants will matriculate from the 27 currently federally funded clinical fellowship training programs and from the medical school. The program has established an Advisory Committee of faculty with distinguished accomplishments in clinical research and clinical research training which will provide monitoring, evaluation, and recommendations for program improvement. A limited number of scholarships will be awarded on a competitive basis to cover a trainee's tuition costs.
