Alpert Medical School Summer Research Program

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is the first renewal application of Alpert Medical School Summer Research Program (AMSSRP). The overall goal of the AMSSRP is to provide medical students with the opportunity to have a mentored research experience under the guidance of Brown University faculty. Designated faculty trainers are the principal investigators for research programs focused on the molecular basis and pathology of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and blood diseases and/or disease outcomes and prevention. The current program is designed to offer ten medical students, who have just completed their 1st year of medical training, a 10 week summer research experience that includes a collaborative, multidisciplinary, mentored research project, didactic training, and career development activities to enhance their understanding, and give them the hands-on experience, of a career as a physician-scientist. The AMSSRP is geared to expose students to the critical role played by physician-scientists in translational research and to inspire these students to embark on this career path of exploration and discovery. The AMSSRP will continue to effectively use the Scholarly Concentrations Program at the Alpert Medical School (AMS) to recruit, train, and track the participants, thus providing significant institutional support. The Scholarly Concentrations Program is an elective course of study that provides students with the opportunity to complete substantial scholarly work in a particular area of study during the entirety of the four year medical school continuum. Most importantly, this program provides a 3-year longitudinal mentoring experience with Brown University faculty. It is anticipated that the involvement of AMSSRP participants in the summer research experience, involvement in the Scholarly Concentrations Program, and mentorship by Brown University faculty will increase the students' commitment to and preparation for a career in academic medicine. NIH has consistently made translational and 'bench-to-bedside' research a priority. However, the increase in NIH support of biomedical basic research has not correlated with an increase in the discovery of efficacious therapies or diagnostics to battle human diseases. This disparity is thought to be due in part to the decrease in the number of physicians that have pursued a research career, a decline that may result from a lack of mentorship, rising costs of medical school education, and a perception that physician scientists are not as highly regarded as physicians in the hospital setting. The AMSSRP serves to dispel this trend by partnering medical students with successful and active scientist mentors engaged in cutting edge research and exposing them to the excitement of biomedical research discoveries related to cardiovascular, pulmonary and blood health and diseases.