Medical Student Discovery Phase Mentors
Deadline: November 8, 2010
Contact: Maureen Powers (mpowers@emory.edu)
Dear Colleagues:
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 five 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 last year 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 this year. The Lead Discovery Mentor must be a current PI on a grant (this can be an NIH, CDC, other federal, Foundation, Pharmaceutical or 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 students (Class of 2012) begin their Discovery Phase research in the spring of 2011. Discovery can begin between March 1st and May 1st, depending on the student’s schedule and will typically consist of a continuous block five month block of time. An option is available this year to do a four month block followed by one month at a subsequent date. All five months must be completed by November of 2011. If you are interested in serving as a Mentor, please follow the link below to access the Discovery webpage. The page will give you more details regarding the Discovery Phase and allow you to submit project descriptions to the database.
https://secure.web.emory.edu/med/prod/FMA/index.cfm
The DEADLINE for faculty to submit a brief project description for the Discovery program is November 8, 2010. Students will be able to view these potential projects and then contact faculty to discuss projects in further detail. All students must identify a faculty Mentor and will subsequently submit a concise two page research proposal due January 18, 2011 for March starts or February 14, 2011 for April or May start dates. Proposals are reviewed by the Discovery 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 and Epidemiology
Division of Infectious Diseases