Medical Scientist Training: NIH Supported TL1 Program
Application deadline: March 15, 2012
In recent years, an increasing number of MD and PhD trainees have pursued clinical and translational related fields. The ACTSI established the MD/MSCR and PhD/MSCR dual degree programs to support predoctoral CTR training for medical students and other health professionals pursuing doctoral degrees in public health, biomedical sciences, and nursing.
Stipends and tuition support are available under the MST Program to candidates not already being supported by other NIH T32 or F32 programs. Travel expenses will be covered by the TL1 program for travel to the annual TL1 meeting. In addition to the annual TL1 meeting, the program will support travel to one other meeting for the trainee to make a presentation regarding the TL1 research project. Applicants must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
PhD/MSCR TRACK
This dual degree track will provide the opportunity to integrate clinical and translational research training into established doctoral degree programs in the Emory Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (GDBBS), the Emory Laney Graduate School, the Emory Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH), the Emory School of Nursing (SON), the joint Emory-Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering program, the Georgia Tech Bioengineering program, and the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) PhD Biomedical Sciences program. The MSCR program for predoctoral students is designed to begin after the required rotations, courses, and qualifying examinations are successfully completed (e.g., beginning after the second to third year of graduate school). PhD graduate students can apply to the MSCR program in their second or third year of graduate school. The MSCR program is expected to add only one year to the typical PhD graduate program training period. The ACTSI NIH-funded TL1 grant mechanism will support training of MSCR students in the combined program. Current Emory, Georgia Tech, and MSM students interested in the MSCR program should apply by March 1. Interested graduate students are encouraged to contact the RETCD predoctoral student program director (Thomas R. Ziegler, MD, Professor of Medicine, tzieg01@emory.edu) to set up a meeting to discuss their interests, career goals, potential mentors, and the specific training programs. For assistance with the application process, please contact Cheryl Sroka by email or call 404-727-5096.
Graduate students funded by the ACTSI TL1 mechanisms will receive a tuition scholarship for the MSCR coursework and stipend support during the year spent in the MSCR program. Those students receiving a stipend will also receive health insurance coverage during the MSCR year. The RETCD Executive Committee will review applications, make decisions on acceptance to the program and designate tuition and stipend support for the program, based on the potential of the student to subsequently pursue a career in clinical investigation, on recommendations from the respective Deans of Students and other letters of support, and the availability of funding support.
Core Didactic Training
PhD/MSCR dual degree candidates will complete the 24 credits of the MSCR required core curriculum while maintaining four research dissertation credits per semester in their PhD program. The MSCR thesis will not be required of PhD/MSCR trainees because of their PhD dissertation. The afternoon courses will need to be taken during the course of a full academic year (September to early May); trainees will have a limited amount of time during this period to also pursue a clinical and/or translational research project. Requirements of the graduate school (GDBBS, MSM, Emory SON and RSPH, Emory-GA Tech BME, GA Tech Bioengineering) must also be completed satisfactorily. Emory MSCR Course Descriptions
PhD/MSCR Program Expectations
The goal of this integrated training is for graduates to pursue long-term careers in multidisciplinary clinical/translational research as leaders and members of multidisciplinary research teams in academic, industry, or other settings. This includes preparing trainees to be competitive for Assistant Professor positions at excellent academic medical centers and universities or colleges as well as positions at federal agencies such as NIH, FDA, and CDC, and for clinical/translational research careers in industry. These expectations will be facilitated by professional development activities during training that includes didactic classroom training. Predoctoral MSCR trainees are expected to submit a career development training grant (e.g., NIH K-series, F32 NRSA, NSF, or non-federal foundation grants) as part of the MSCR scientific and grant writing course.
During the MSCR training period, PhD students will continue to participate in programmatic responsibilities of their PhD program including seminars, ethics training, close interaction, and meetings with their mentors and research supervisory committee, etc.
For Application Instructions, click here.
MD/MSCR TRACK
The MD/MSCR program provides a mechanism for comprehensive didactic and mentored clinical and/or translational research training for medical students. Medical students with this foundation will be uniquely qualified to pursue academic careers as physician-scientists involved in patient-oriented medical research. The goal of this program is to develop young physicians for future leadership roles in clinical and/or translational research and academic medicine. The MD/MSCR track is modeled on the successful Emory MD/MPH track. As with the MD/MPH program, medical students in the MD/MSCR track will receive both degrees at the completion of the five-year program. Emory medical students will be enrolled in the Emory MSCR programs but may take selected courses offered by either Emory or MSM MSCR programs. A total of 24 credits is required for the MSCR program (the core MSCR curriculum) during the fall and spring semesters (September through May). In addition to the didactic training MD/MSCR trainees are also required to complete a master’s thesis.
Core Didactic Training
The MD/MSCR program is designed to begin after the required clinical rotations during the third year of medical school are completed. Current medical students can apply for the MD/MSCR program during their third year of medical school. The Discovery Phase can be combined with the extra year of didactic MSCR coursework, allowing for a 17 to 22 month timeframe to complete the MSCR program, including mentored research and didactic research training. The required didactic courses are completed within 12 calendar months and trainees also complete a mentored thesis research project as part of the Emory or MSM MSCR programs.
MD/MSCR Program Expectations
The goal of the program is to provide a solid foundation in clinical and/or translational research for trainees committed to the pursuit of long-term academic careers in patient-oriented, multidisciplinary clinical and translational research. Graduates should be competitive for premier residency programs. This will be facilitated by professional development goals and products obtained during the MD/MSCR track. These include design, implementation and analysis of a mentored clinical and/or translational research project, presentation of data from the project at a national meeting, and submission of at least one manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal for publication as first-author, in addition to satisfactory completion of the didactic classroom training and a MSCR graduate thesis. Lead Mentors must be federally funded (e.g., NIH) clinical/translational investigators at Emory or collaborating institutions (MSM, Georgia Tech) with a strong mentoring track record.
We are committed to assisting medical students in identifying a lead mentor (established clinical investigator at Emory, MSM, or Georgia Tech) who will provide guidance and mentored research training while in the program.
For Application Instructions, click here.
We encourage interested students to contact the ACTSI education program to discuss their interests, career goals, specific programs, and for assistance with the application process.