ADDITIONAL PROGRAM EXPECTATIONS 

Mentoring Committee- achieving an individualized program. Each first-year trainee, after contemplating an area of research and outlining a proposed research study, proposes a Mentoring Committee.  Mentors are selected from the faculty at Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  The Program Director and Co-Directors assist the trainee in identifying mentors who have expertise in clinical research and interest in the pertinent discipline of medicine.  The members of this Mentoring Committee meet with the student on a frequent basis to provide expertise in the conduct of clinical research, provide specific resources such as statistical methodology and serve to review the continuing conduct of the trainee’s research activities.  During the first year, each trainee designs a research project and subsequently performs the clinical research.  At the conclusion of the program, each trainee presents a formal public seminar on their research project and submits a manuscript suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Research Project.  All MSCI scholars are required to complete a mentored clinical research project with a formal seminar presentation and a written report of the project intended for submission for peer-reviewed publication.  

Annual MSCI Retreat.  Scholars will present an update on their progress over the past year to the MMC clinical research community, discuss issues relevant to balancing an academic clinical research career, and listen to a presentation from a luminary national keynote speaker in an area of one of the trainees.

Work-in-Progress Series in Multidisciplinary Clinical Research. A weekly seminar and work-in-progress series is conducted via videoconference, in conjunction with the University of Vermont and the University of Puerto Rico, as a supplement to the core and personalized didactic curriculum.  Sessions include: (1) presentations by a diverse range of faculty representing the breadth of disciplines relevant to clinical investigation, including outside speakers; topics include both specific research projects being conducted as well as focused methodological topics and (2) presentations by scholars for their own work at various stages with invited faculty to comment on and provide expertise on specific issues being addressed at the particular stage and focus of the project.  These sessions will greatly enhance the scholars’ understandings of clinical investigation across a wide spectrum of disciplines and clinical specialties.