Medical Student Scholars Program at UNC NIDDK Centers

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) proposes a Medical Student Research Scholar (MSRS) Program that will provide a yearlong research experience for three underrepresented minority (URM) students who have completed at least two years of medical school and are currently enrolled. The long-term goal of the UNC MSRS will be to increase the number of minority clinician-scientists committed to a research career in areas funded by NIDDK that are especially identified with racial and ethnic health disparities. The UNC MSRS will be sponsored jointly by our NIDDK funded Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease and the UNC Clinical Nutrition Research Unit. We have centered the UNC MSRS in both NIDDK-funded Centers based on our conviction that (a) Offering a variety of experiences will enhance our ability to recruit a number of well-qualified URM medical students; (b) Faculty expertise within the two centers spans the spectrum of research from basic sciences to clinical and Program Director epidemiological research and thus will facilitate career choices for medical students interested in becoming clinician-scientists; (c) both Centers are strong research resources at UNC which previously have not had an organized program for medical students interested in NIDDK funded research as a career focus. The Program Director, Joyce Harp, MD, is a member of both centers, a faculty member in the Department of Nutrition in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health, and a well-funded URM clinician-scientist. The goal of the MSRS program will be achieved through the selection of three URM medical students per year - both from UNC and from collaborating medical schools - who will dedicate a year to full-time work with the UNC Program's faculty mentors on a project. The MSRS Scholars will be matched to faculty mentors from the two Centers and will utilize the Centers' resources to conduct their research projects. During the MSRS year, the medical students will also participate in required and optional didactics relevant to research. Funding will be available to the students for the year after the fellowship to allow them to present the findings from their research at professional meetings. The UNC MSRS will benefit from the ' administrative services of the Carolina Medical Student Research Training Program and its Advisory Committee, headed by co-Program Director, W. Campbell Patterson, M.D.