Monday, April 28, 2025
4/28/2025
Renewal: Short-Term Training for Medical Students in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The University of Florida College of Medicine has a long tradition and record of accomplishments in training medical students for careers in academic medicine and research. This application is a resubmission of a competitive renewal of a T35 Grant titled “Short-Term Training for Medical Students in Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research” that was first awarded to the College of Medicine in 1981 and is now in its 40th year. The purpose of the training grant is to provide intensive, short-term (10-week) research experience for twenty first- year medical students under the guidance of a chosen research mentor. The overarching goals of this proposal are: 1) create a training program that equips trainees with the initial research skills, knowledge, and expertise to engage in scientific exploration, 2) provide a roadmap for students to envision a future career pathway in academic medicine, 3) monitor trainee-related experiences and outcomes that will serve as a foundation for evaluating the status of the program and for making future improvements, and 4) instill a culture of professional excellence based on enhancing rigor, reproducibility, and transparency in research. From among the 1,100 faculty members in the Colleges of Medicine and Engineering, 44 mentors have been selected for inclusion in this training program based on the quality of their research program and proven track record of training. A full-time, one-on-one research experience under the tutelage of a mentor is the core component of the research training. This experience is augmented by a series of enrichment sessions that are designed to provide fundamental research skills and present a series of potential roadmaps toward a career in academic medicine. Topics that are covered include training in the responsible conduct of research, research ethics, biostatistics, research oversight and regulation, preparation of presentations/abstracts/manuscripts, and an academic career roundtable discussion. Student presentations, with comments from their peers and senior faculty, are used to improve their skills and enhance their projects both at the onset and conclusion of the program. Critical to the success of the training experience is the recent implementation of the Discovery Pathways Program (DPP) with the medical school curriculum. The DPP is an experiential, small-group seminar series designed to provide in-depth exposure to an area of particular interest. An essential aspect of the DPP is for medical students to build a portfolio of accomplishment and scholarship. Spanning the entirety of the medical school experience, students choose one of eleven tracks that cover a range of topics and interest areas. While each track has a particular mix of seminar presentations, roundtable discussions, and engagement activities outside the medical campus, common to all tracks is the requirement for a mentored capstone research project suitable for publication in the peer-reviewed medical literature. The current training grant serves as the initial launching point for this effort and the critical element that drives this unique and highly successful program.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).