We are requesting continued funding of the Medical Sciences Training Program (MSTP) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The MSTP has made significant progress in its mission to provide outstanding, integrated training to physician-scientists. Core philosophies that have shaped the Program are (1) the rigor and caliber of both the M.D. and the Ph.D. training should be equivalent to those of single degree candidates;(2) students learn from one another;and (3) graduates, albeit to variable degrees, will be engaged in translational research. Three physician-scientists, each of whom is active in research, graduate training, and clinical activities, direct the MSTP. A student organization works closely with the directors. Directors also are advised by the MSTP Steering Committee, which includes faculty from the major Colleges and Schools of the University and insures that the MSTP exploits the breadth of training opportunities available to students at UW-Madison. The usual student does the preclinical phase of Medical School training while Becoming acquainted with research methodologies in a four-semester seminar/journal club course and participating in research rotations. Research mentors and graduate programs are chosen in the second year. A clinical bridging curriculum facilitates the transitions between graduate and medical work and also introduces students to clinical research. The major clinical courses of Medical School are done after completion of the Ph.D. thesis. The majority of student theses are in areas that require strong training in the traditional biological and chemical sciences, but a significant number of students are doing research on population-based problems and in engineering and in regenerative medicine. The regenerative medicine projects utilize mouse and human (WA01 and WA09) embryonic stem cells. Students produce substantial theses that result in important publications. Activities that foster program cohesiveness include a weekly seminar, yearly retreat, yearly symposium, and regular social gatherings. To have an interactive and dynamic group of students, we are aiming for a class size of ten students for an overall program size of 70- 80 students. Our long-term goal is to train a diverse group of physician-scientists who will have major impact on biomedical research and the practice of clinical medicine, and hence, will be future leaders in Academic Medicine.
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