Stanford Cardiovascular Summer Research Training Program for Medical Students

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PROJECT SUMMARY The objective of the Stanford Cardiovascular Summer Research Training Program for Medical Students is to provide meaningful ten-week summer research experiences to a diverse cohort of 15 first-year medical students from across the country in the field of cardiovascular science. Our long-term goal is to bolster the pool of physician-scientists in our workforce by 1) increasing their diversity, 2) exposing them to the landscape of 21st century translational medicine, and 3) providing them with a strong foundation in rigor, reproducibility and the responsible conduct of research. We will work toward the first goal by partnering directly with Meharry Medical College (co-PI Dr. Stephanie McClure) and the University of Puerto Rico (co-PI Dr. América Facundo) to provide a dedicated track for underrepresented minority (URM) medical students from their institutions to obtain research experiences with Stanford faculty. 40-60% of our placements will be dedicated to medical students from underrepresented backgrounds. After recruiting a diverse pool of medical students, we will provide our trainees with a comprehensive ten-week curriculum that will prepare them for careers as physician-scientists in cardiovascular medicine. 80% of trainee time will be devoted to a cardiovascular research project in the lab of a Stanford physician-scientist faculty mentor. The remaining 20% of their time will be spent in a comprehensive curriculum comprised of seminars in cardiovascular science, research training, physician-scientist career development opportunities and social events. To accomplish the second goal of preparing trainees for innovative research in translational medicine, students will be exposed to scientific opportunities that are especially enriched at Stanford. Precision medicine, industry collaborations, and familiarity with clinical trials are all important components of the research endeavors for future physician-scientists. To accomplish our third goal of providing trainees with a strong foundation in rigor, reproducibility and the responsible conduct of research, we will provide a dedicated curriculum to address these topics under the guidance of leaders in the fields of research ethics and the philosophy of science. The program’s success and longevity will be monitored and improved upon through a robust plan for internal and external evaluation. The Program Directors and faculty mentors for this T35 have ongoing state-of-the-art cardiovascular research programs spanning basic, translational, clinical, and population level domains. Together they have the mentoring expertise and the available resources to support this T35 summer research program, which will train a diverse cohort of medical students to become responsible, collaborative, and innovative physician-scientists.