Clinical Research
Track Curriculum 2009/10
The Clinical Research Track will provide students with exposure and experience in developing and participating in a clinical research study.
Track Objectives
- To understand the importance of clinical research in leading to improved patient care and to practicing evidence based medicine
- To obtain experience in developing a study design for a clinical research project
- To prepare a project for human subject evaluation through an institutional review board
- To recognize the importance of the ethic of human experimentation, especially in at risk populations such as children and the disabled
- To participate with a mentor in conducting a clinical research study
Track Activities
Required First & Second Year Activities
- Attend lecture series
- Participate in a Research Program in the Summer following first year
- Students must submit a project proposal including scope of work, a timeline, objectives/goals, and the organization/mentor with which the student will be working including contact information.
- After project completion, students are required to submit a 2-4 page paper to include the student’s project scope, the role the student played in the project, how the project changed from the original proposal, and reflections on the experience
Recommended First and Second Year Activities
- Attend an IRB session
- Participate in the Beaumont Research Society
Required Third & Fourth Year Activities
- Practice of Medicine Scholarly Project will be related to track of study
- Research Elective (4 – 6 weeks)
Track Lecture Series
Topics – Years I & II
- Introduction to clinical research as a discipline
- Biostatistics as applied to clinical research-what is clinically significant
- Protection of Human Subjects: the ethics of human experimentation
- Conflict of interest and research into vulnerable populations
- The gene therapy death of Jesse Gelsinger-Improving research protocols
- Clinical epidemiology-determining causality and bias
- Study design of a clinical research project-Rare Diseases Clinical Research Center
- Constructing and managing data bases
- Regulatory requirements: The institutional review board (IRB)
- Performing pharmaceutical studies-conflicts in relationships of industry and investigators
- Evaluating clinical research
Research Program (sampling of host sites)
- American Pediatric Society Student Research Program
- Children’s National Medical Center
- George Washington University Medical Center
- John Hopkins University
- Vanderbilt Medical Center
- MD Anderson Cancer Center
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Massachusetts General Hospital
Other Extracurricular Opportunities
- Participate in courses offered by the School of Public Health in clinical research/biostatistics
*Other educational opportunities and activities to enrich students’ experiences may be added to the curriculum during the program, per the discretion of the Track Director.