Roles of SC Administrators, Faculty, and Students
Office of Medical Student Research
and Scholarship (OMSRS)
The office of Medical Student Research and Scholarship - comprised of the Director of the Scholarly Concentrations, Scholarly Concentrations Program Administrator, and the Medical Scholars Program Coordinator - centrally administers the SC program. The office organizes orientations, coordinates the application process for Medical Scholars research funding, schedules the meetings of the Medical Scholars Review Committee and SC Directors, and maintains the SC website and the MedScholars Online application program.
Dr. Laurence Baker, Professor of Health Research and Policy, is the Director of the Scholarly Concentrations. He works closely with: Dr. Charles Prober (Senior Associate Dean), the Scholarly Concentration Directors, the Office of Evaluation, and the Office of Medical Education who directs the pre-clerkship curriculum.
Scholarly Concentration Directors
The Scholarly Concentration Directors are the core of the SCs. They present and promote their SC areas at the various student orientations, organize student activities within the scholarly concentrations, and determine the coursework and scholarship necessary for successful completion of the scholarly concentration. Most importantly, they:
- meet with all students interested in their respective concentrations to help them plan their course work and identify mentors for their scholarly work.
- meet formally with their student groups as part of the Translational Discoveries program six times per year.
- monitor the progress of students through their SCs and assist students in successfully completing the program.
- are responsible for ensuring that Medical Scholars Research proposals within their academic area are reviewed and the students are interviewed.
- are members of the Committee on Medical Student Scholarship, which makes the final decision on individual student funding through the Medical Scholars Fellowship program.
Most SC Directors are supported by faculty committees that assist them with protocol reviews and student mentoring.
Faculty Research/Project Advisors
The faculty research/project advisors are the experts and first line of support for each student's specific scholarly pursuit. They meet with students and give regular advice and feedback about students' progress in their scholarship endeavors. They include students in opportunities to meet with members of their group (e.g., residents, postdoctoral fellows, faculty in related disciplines) and ensure that all materials and resources are available to the student to complete the research/project work effectively.
Advising Deans
Advising Deans are in a unique position of having a formal connection with their students from matriculation to graduation. From this perspective they are able to advise students on how a concentration can fit in with progress through the core courses and clerkships.
Students
Students explore SC opportunities during the first year and decide on a course and general scholarship plan. Students declare their Scholarly Concentration plans no later than October 1 of their second year. (Students planning to complete medical school in four years should strongly consider declaring by spring of their first year.) A declaration sheet is filled out and must be signed by the Director(s) of the appropriate SC areas. Within their SC, students participate in activities including the Translational Discoveries program and all other events planned by the SC Director. Students will complete an Annual Progress Report to record their progress and facilitate communication with SC Directors. They must meet the requirements of the SC program no later than six months prior to graduation (finish courses and present scholarship results). Students who elect to change their Scholarly Concentration areas after they declare must notify both current and new SC Directors and the SC central administration.