Recruitment of Medical Students to Careers in Mental Health Research

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In response to the nation's need to recruit new physician-scientist investigators into the field of mental health research, this renewal application requests support for 5R25MH054318-14, "Recruitment of Medical Students into Careers in Mental Health Research" -a collaboration between the Department of Psychiatry and the Departments of Neuroscience, Neurology, Neurobiology, Medicine, and Psychology of the University of Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Mellon University. The program features a full year of mentored research for highly motivated medical students with an aptitude for and interest in mental health-relevant clinical and/or basic research. The aim is to increase the national pool of talented medical school graduates who go on to seek further training in preparation for careers in mental health research. In this proposed renewal program, we build on: 1) the success of our current medical student pilot program (active during the past 4 years of our current funding), 2) the knowledge and expertise of a leadership team with extensive research and training experience, 3) our demonstrated 14-year success in the implementation of the current R25 research education program, and 4) the outstanding research environment provided by the Department of Psychiatry/Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. This unusual medical student research education program consists of: a) a 12-month part-time, intensive research experience, conducting supervised research on a scientific question with direct relevance to mental health or mental disorders; b) a didactic educational program tailored to the specific research aims and interests of the student, c) a summer component that offers optional clinical rotations at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC) providing a clinical complement to those conducting basic neuroscience research or additional clinical exposure to those engaged in patient-oriented research, and d) a series of evening seminars in which students interact with nationally-renowned senior scientists in discussion of their own current research findings. The program represents a timely example of the NIMH's continuing effort to promote active collaboration between clinical and basic science researchers--promoting early induction of highly talented and motivated medical students into the field of translational mental health research-with the option to focus on basic or clinical neuroscience research, or patient-oriented research- and exposing all students to aspects of both the T1 (bench to bedside) and T2 (clinical to community) types of translational research. The program capitalizes on the extraordinary strengths of the institutions involved, and their past and continuing success in inter-disciplinary collaboration in health science education and research training.