MSRP in Metabolism, Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): To meet the healthcare challenges on which NIDDK focuses, it is essential that we nurture and build the physician-scientist workforce, preparing medical students from all areas of the US to become tomorrow's researchers. However, students in the western US have limited access to this type of training since almost all NIDDK-funded T35 programs are east of or near the Mississippi River; only two programs in Texas are significantly west of the River. We propose to expand NIDDK T35 training opportunities westward to students at the University of Utah (UU) School of Medicine (SOM) and the western IDeA states of Idaho (whose students attend UU SOM), Nevada (University of Nevada SOM), Montana, and Wyoming. Over the past decade the UU Health Sciences Center has built a dynamic research community that addresses the full range of health-related issues that are the focus of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIKKD), with a particular emphasis on diabetes and metabolism. Faculty members' grant-funded research spans the continuum of T1-T4 translational science and is supported by numerous institutional programs. In addition, faculty members have extensive experience in successfully mentoring trainees, helping to build the physician-scientist workforce. Thus, the UU Health Sciences Center is an ideal location to offer outstanding short-term research experiences for medical students. The goal and objectives of the new Medical Student Research Program in Metabolism, Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (MSRP-MDDK) are to: GOAL: Ignite in medical students a life-long interest in conducting research in metabolism, diabetes, digestion, blood cell development or kidney disease while also building their skills in creative and critical thinking. Objective 1: Engage 12 medical students/year in the exciting foundational, clinical and translational science discoveries taking place at the University of Utah. Trainees will participate in a mentored, 10-week summer research experience between their first and second years of medical school. Objective 2: Stimulate the development of trainees' creative and critical thinking skills through an innovative course that will be part of the summer experience. Objective 3: Encourage each trainee to discover the type of research he or she is most interested in pursuing as a physician. Fifty-three faculty mentors have agreed to participate in the program. Emerging mentors (14) will themselves receive training in mentoring. The PI/PD will be advised by an internal Steering Committee of NIDDK-funded investigators and SOM Curriculum Committee members. Multiple evaluation strategies will be used to provide formative feedback for program improvement as well as tracking students' career trajectories.