The goal of this Summer Research Training Program is to identify and facilitate the career progression of veterinary students who have the ability and motivation to become a veterinarian scientist. The veterinary perspective has high value in biomedical research and there is a relative shortage of veterinarian scientists. Stimulating greater interest in research careers among veterinary students is key to filling these needs. It is also critically important to ensure that students who are already determined to pursue a veterinarian-scientist career have experiences that promote their goals. Short- term research training programs, such as the one described in this proposal, are one means of accomplishing these objectives. The focus of this training program is translational biomedical research, broadly encompassing the research areas of infectious diseases, reproductive biology, epidemiology, neuroscience, oncology, toxicology, nutrition, and behavior. The program faculty includes 40 mentors from 12 different academic departments in 4 colleges. The program is 10 weeks in length and is open to veterinary students who have completed either one or two years in the professional curriculum. Ten trainee positions are available each program year. Trainees are matched with a faculty mentor who shares similar research interests. In collaboration with the faculty mentor, trainees formulate a testable hypothesis, design the experiments, collect and analyze the experimental data, and report the conclusions. Reporting of results includes authoring an abstract that is submitted to a national meeting, preparing a poster presentation of the work, and writing a short manuscript formatted for a scientific journal appropriate for publishing the results. Extensive instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research is provided through orientation week activities and a seminar series. The seminar series also features presentations that highlight career opportunities available to veterinarian scientists, as does a field trip to companies that hire veterinarian scientists. Scientific writing sessions are provided to assist trainees with preparation of the abstract, poster, and manuscript. At the conclusion of the program, trainees present their work at an in-house poster session and at the National Veterinary Scholars Symposium. Follow-up engagement over the course of the student?s DVM training and beyond provides support and mentoring to continue to develop research experience and the potential to pursue a veterinarian-scientist career.
This program will train veterinary students in biomedical research methods and promote their development as veterinarian scientists. Training future generations of veterinarian scientists is essential for advancing society?s understanding of the biomedical sciences and promoting public health.
