MEDICAL STUDENT DISCOVERY PHASE—REQUEST FOR FACULTY RESEARCH MENTORS
Please see below for information on and instructions on how to submit a basic, translational or clinical research project idea for medical students to consider for their 5 month Discover Phase rotation. We encourage participation by pediatric researchers who are currently PI on a grant (intramural or extramural) and have a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed publications.
While these medical students’ research backgrounds may be limited coming into the program, a Dept of Peds lab PI who previously participated commented that they found the Discovery students to be highly motivated, hard workers and excited to engage in their project. Advice was given by this prior mentor to have a project defined that is be doable in a 5 month time frame with a fairly high likelihood of abstract submission if not manuscript.
Please see below for a full description of the Discovery program and note that if you decide you would like to participate, the deadline to submit your project description is Nov 1, 2012.
FROM DR. MAUREEN A. POWERS AND DR. HENRY M. BLUMBERG
MEDICAL STUDENT DISCOVERY PHASE--REQUEST FOR FACULTY RESEARCH MENTORS
Dear Colleague:
If you are an active clinical, translational or basic research investigator, we would like to invite your participation in the Emory Medical Student Discovery phase by serving as a Mentor for one of our medical students. Discovery is a required part of the medical school curriculum in which all medical students will have a 5 month block devoted entirely to a focused, hypothesis-driven research project. During this period, which occurs after completion of the Applications Phase of clinical rotations, the students have no responsibilities except research and research training. The Discovery Phase was initiated two years ago and most students and faculty mentors have been very enthusiastic about their experience.
Mentors are critical to the success of Discovery. To ensure that mentors are active, experienced investigators, minimum requirements for serving as a Discovery research mentor have been implemented. The Lead Discovery Mentor must be a current PI on a grant (this can be an NIH, CDC, other federal, Foundation, Pharmaceutical or an Emory internal grant) and have a minimum of 5 peer-reviewed publications. We anticipate that the vast majority of mentors will greatly exceed this minimum requirement. In addition, because of the large number of highly qualified mentors, mentors can serve as the Lead Mentor for only one student each year.
The next group of Emory medical students (Class of 2014) will begin their Discovery Phase research in the spring of 2013. Discovery will begin at the beginning of March, April, May or June 2013, depending on the student’s schedule, and will consist of a continuous 5 month block of time or a 4 month block followed by 1 month at a subsequent date. All 5 months must be completed by December of 2013. If you are interested in serving as a Lead Mentor for a Discovery for an Emory medical student in the Class of 2014, please follow the link below to access the Main Discovery webpage. This page, as well as the Mentor’s page (link in upper left of Main page), will give you more details regarding Discovery and allow you to submit project descriptions to the database.
https://secure.web.emory.edu/med/prod/FMA/
The DEADLINE for faculty to submit a brief project description for the Discovery program is November 1, 2012. Students will be able to view these potential projects and contact faculty to discuss projects in further detail. All students must identify a faculty Mentor and will subsequently submit a 2 page research proposal due January 25, 2013 for March start date, February 4, 2013 for April and May start dates, or March 11, 2013 for June (or later) start dates. Proposals are reviewed by the Medical Student Research Committee and must be accepted before the research project can begin.
Thanks in advance for your dedication to our students!
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or need further information.
Sincerely,
Maureen Powers, PhD
Associate Professor of Cell Biology
mpowers@emory.edu
404.727.8859
Henry M. Blumberg, M.D.
Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Global Health
Division of Infectious Diseases
henry.m.blumberg@emory.edu
404.727.5096