The Medical Student Research Office (MSRO) partners students with mentors who will enhance their research experiences and scholarly development.
Mentoring Support through the MSRO
Mentoring allows students to pursue scholarly projects in an area that is important to them. Beginning students have the opportunity to learn more about an area they are considering for a future career. As advanced students, they can work on the cutting-edge questions being asked in their chosen future fields. Faculty mentors are both teachers and role models, and are essential partners in a student's development.
Who is eligible?
If you are a medical student, you are eligible, with or without previous research experience.
How can a mentor help me?
Mentors support you every step of the way, offering suggestions, advice, knowledge, insight, and resources as needed. Specifically, mentors can help you:
- Learn how to formulate a hypothesis
- Develop a research proposal
- Carry out a project
- Analyze the resulting data
- Communicate the results to the scientific community
- Evaluate your own progress
- Make decisions about future research
- Find information for career planning
How to Find a Research Mentor
If you want to carry out a summer research project, you should begin exploring your subject and identifying potential mentors during the fall semester.
Once you have done so, ask your classmates for mentor suggestions, search our Mentor Database, or look through the online bios of faculty members in a particular department. All students should also make an appointment to see one of the faculty in the Medical Student Research Office to discuss potential mentors. When you have some names to consider, conduct a PubMed search to see what s/he has published in the last few years, which will give you a more specific idea of the individual's research focus.
Once you have found someone researching your desired subject, send an email to ask whether they have any ongoing projects suitable for a summer research experience. If the proposed mentor has projects available, make an appointment to talk further in person.
Since positions, along with a mentor's time, are often limited, you will increase your chances of being invited to join a group if you can demonstrate you have taken the time to research the individual's prior work. This will attest to your sincere interest. It is always helpful to exhibit motivation and enthusiasm.
Programs
PORTAL (Patient-Oriented Research Training and Leadership)
Portal is a highly selective, strongly mentored program, designed to encourage career development of medical students who seek to become leaders as physician-scientists. Students in the PORTAL program will earn a dual MD/MSCR (Master's of Science in Clinical Research). Learn more about PORTAL.
Scholarly Year
In this program, you can opt to devote a year to conducting research or working on another type of scholarly project in order to obtain mentored, one-on-one research training, or to engage in a service or advocacy project. Learn more about the Scholarly Year.