The shortage of clinical research trainees has become a crisis for academic medicine. This proposal for a CRCA at NUMS responds to the need for an expanded program of clinical research training by providing leadership, oversight, coordination, and rigorous coursework to the clinical investigator training enterprise. The goal of this application is to develop a cohesive and rational framework for training a critical mass of clinical investigators. The objectives of the Clinical Research Curriculum initiative at NUMS are: 1) to establish an interdepartmental administrative structure which oversees the research training of clinical fellows and residents; 2) to establish a new graduate degree program, the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI), which contains coursework and mentored research experiences that provide the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes for the success of future independently funded clinical investigators; 3) to develop three new courses (Molecular Medicine, Modern Laboratory Techniques, and Molecular Epidemiology) which emphasize the application of new knowledge in molecular biology and genetics in clinical investigation; and 4) to establish an ongoing process for determining whether or not the program is meeting its goals and objectives. The long-term goal is to encourage bright, enthusiastic, well- trained, academically-oriented physicians to pursue a career in clinical investigation, make them knowledgeable about the complex issues associated with conducting scientifically and ethically sound clinical research, and maximize the likelihood they will be competitive in seeking subsequent research support. The program builds on the strengths of current training initiatives in public health and health services research, and on the considerable scientific and research training experiences of faculty from a wide variety of medical school departments, centers, and institutes. The initiation of the program comes at a time of substantial and sustained growth in NUMS' clinical research enterprise. All of these factors make NUMS an ideal site for an National Institute's of Health (NIH)-funded CRCA.
