US AND INTERNATIONAL
CLINICAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Past Fellows - Accomplishments
| Introduction
The Doris Duke Foundation offers a unique opportunity to support medical students for one year as they learn how to perform clinical research. The General Clinical Research Center at the University of North Carolina (UNC) is one of 10 centers nationally offering this program. Doris Duke fellows will spend a year at UNC performing a clinical research project with a faculty mentor and will undergo additional training in clinical research. A unique feature of the UNC program is that each student will be expected to formulate a specific research project with his/her mentor, write up the protocol including the statistical sections, and follow the protocol through the IRB and GCRC approval processes. The student will then take primary responsibility for initiating and conducting the study. Students participating in the fellowship will receive a $27,000 stipend, health insurance for the year, plus supplementary funds of $5,000 for research-related expenses, including training and travel. Interested medical students should review the listing of potential mentors and contact any of interest to get more information on specific projects that may be available. This mentor list is not all inclusive, and there may be other faculty at UNC willing to mentor students. Please feel free to contact the Program co-Director, Susan Pusek to explore other options. It is also possible to visit UNC to meet directly with potential mentors. OverviewThe University of North Carolina Medical School at Chapel Hill (UNC) has traditionally encouraged research by medical students, and offers a variety of programs to facilitate their participation. However, most students currently select research experiences in basic science laboratories. Most "clinical research" experiences have involved epidemiologic, population-based studies rather than direct contact with human subjects. In fact, very few students have selected an experience in patient-oriented research, which is defined here as "the investigator and research subject in the same room at the same time." This deficiency exists in spite of a relative wealth of senior mentors, a first-rate General Clinical Research Center, and an excellent track record of career development in patient-oriented research at the fellow and junior faculty level. The Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship Program for Medical Students provides for the first time a formal mechanism, and dedicated resources, for a year-long experience in patient-oriented research. The program's exclusive focus on patient-oriented research addresses the most pressing training deficiency, one that exists not just at UNC, but at a national level as well. The
Institution The
Verne S. Caviness General Clinical Research Center. Resources available for GCRC researchers include biostatistical and epidemiologic consultations, data management and analysis services, a research nutrition service, an investigational drug service, and the Office of Training and Career Development. Dr. Paul B. Watkins, MD assumed the Directorship of the UNC GCRC on August 1, 1999.
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