UNC-CH Summer Research Training in Aging for Medical Students

北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校（UNC）提出了一项短期老龄化研究培训计划（START），该计划将为8名完成至少一年医学院学习并目前入学的本科医学院学生提供2或3个月的全日制暑期研究经验。该计划的短期目标是为医学生在医学院生涯的早期提供有意义的老龄化研究经验。为了实现这一目标，该计划的目标是：(1)每年选择8名对老年学或老年病学研究感兴趣的医学生，并将在夏季花2-3个月的时间在NIA重要领域的研究项目上工作；(2)为START学者匹配精心挑选的优秀教师导师，他们将作为榜样，帮助培养START学生对研究的兴趣；(3)为START参与者提供必要的和可选的教学，这将增加研究经验的可能性，这将为老年人研究领域的学术医生的职业生涯提供桥梁；(4)跟踪START的结果，以确定项目的成功。UNC START项目的长期目标将是增加从事生物医学、临床或卫生服务研究的医师科学家的数量，这些领域是继续NIA使命所必需的。该项目在研究方面利用了独特而可观的机构优势，包括来自四个不同的卫生事务学校和中心的不同研究人员，这些学校和中心彼此靠近。这种安排创造了一种多学科的研究环境，有望为终身研究事业提供动力。在培训的最初几年提供有意义的研究经验可能是我们最大的希望。拟议的方案就是为了满足这一需求而设计的。

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) proposes a Short Term Aging Research Training Program (START) that will provide a 2 or 3-month full-time summer research experience for 8 undergraduate medical students who have completed at least one year of medical school and are currently enrolled. The short term goal of the program is to provide medical students with a meaningful aging research experience early in their medical school career. In order to achieve that goal the aims of the program are: (1) To select 8 medical students per year who have an interest in a research career in gerontology or geriatrics and will dedicate 2-3 months during the summer to work on a research project in areas important to the NIA.; (2) To match the START Scholars to carefully selected, outstanding faculty mentors who will serve as role models and help nurture the interest of START students in research; (3) To provide START participants with required and optional didactics that will increase the likelihood of a research experience that will provide a bridge to a career as an academic physician in aging research; (4) To track the outcomes of START to determine the success of the program. The long-term goal of the UNC START Program will be to increase the number of physician-scientists engaged in biomedical, clinical, or health services research in those areas necessary to continue the mission of the NIA. The program takes advantage of unique and considerable institutional strengths in research, including diverse investigators from four different health affairs schools and Centers which are located in close proximity to each other. This arrangement creates the kind of multidisciplinary research environment that will hopefully provide the motivation for a lifelong research career. Providing a meaningful research experience in the early years of training may be our best hope. The proposed program is designed to answer this need.