PLEASE NOTE: Information on this site pertains to MD students who matriculated in the 2006-2007 academic year or later. All other students matriculating prior to 2006 should refer to their year's specific Guide to the Scholarly Concentrations.
The Scholarly Concentration (SC) program is a required, structured program of study in the Medical Student Curriculum that promotes in-depth learning and scholarship. The SC's provide medical students with faculty-mentored scholarly experiences in areas of individual interest combined with structured coursework to support this scholarship. This component of the MD curriculum develops critical thinking, skills in evaluation of new data, and hands-on experience with the methods by which new scholarly information is generated.
Building these essential skills for leadership in medicine and research supports the institutional goals of innovation and scholarship, and fosters lifelong enthusiasm for the field of medicine.
Scholarly Concentrations were created by multidisciplinary groups of faculty with unifying scholarly approaches to research questions. These faculty then designed a program to incorporate medical students into their academic circles. Proposals for new SC's are submitted to the Faculty Senate standing committee on "Medical Student Scholarship." Once approved, the foundation area or application area is solidified by recruiting faculty to be advisors, selecting courses, and designing paths that students can follow. Because the SC program is faculty driven, the SCs represent the research strengths of the school. Each SC is reviewed every five years for renewal.
Broad range of opportunities
Frequently
Asked Questions Not quite sure how the details come together? Check out answers to common questions and read some examples.
The Scholarly Concentration program has 13 areas of study, including 8 foundation areas, and 5 application areas. All students must select one of the 8 foundation areas, which are designed to develop skills and tools that can be applied to important problems in health care. The 8 foundation areas that have been developed are:
Bioengineering
Biomedical Ethics & Medical Humanities
Biomedical Informatics
Clinical Research
Community Health
Health Services & Policy Research
Molecular Basis of Medicine
Independent Design
In many cases students may find it advantageous to apply the skills developed in their foundation area to a particular area of medicine. These students may choose to pursue an SC application area in addition to their foundation area. The 5 available application areas are:
Cancer Biology
Cardiovascular Pulmonary
Immunology
Neuroscience, Behavior, & Cognition
Women’s Health
This choice of whether to pursue a foundation area or a foundation in combination with an application is based on many factors, including past academic background, current interests, and future goals.
