Summer Practicum

Summer Cohorts

MCRiT's approach to the summer practicum experience is both individualized and team based. This Practicum will begin each June and last 12 weeks. Ten students will be accepted into the Summer Practicum with a stipend in the amount $5,193 provided to each student.

The MCRiT Summer Practicum is designed to provide an adequate exposure to key elements in clinical research.

This Practicum will consist of four components:

1. Orientation:
PEERRS, Pre-doctoral Research Trainee workshop

2. Mentored Participation in ongoing research:
Each trainee will develop a summer practicum plan in cooperation with the mentors.

The Practicum project must:

1. meet the NIH definition of clinical research;
2. have prior or pending IRB approval at the time of selection; and
3. be in a "data acquisition" phase for most of the summer.

Each trainee is required to:

1. Review and understand the project protocol and informed consent;
2. Attend research team meetings;
3. Understand the roles of each team member; and
4. Demonstrate participation in at least 9 of the 18 competency areas.

3. Group Project in Clinical Research
The 12-week Practicum is too short for students to experience the full spectrum of issues related to clinical research, especially regarding the early planning phase of clinical research.

This gap will be filled by having the students in the summer program participate in a group "virtual research project". This group project will require that Summer Practicum students meet for at least two hours weekly. At each step of the virtual project development phase, a faculty member from the MICHR Mentor Core (in many cases accompanied by an experienced MICHR staff) will guide this process. Thus, each step below will be appropriately guided by a Clinical Researcher, Project Manager, Statistician, etc.

4. Structured Exposures to Clinical Research Process
Structured Exposures consisting of one-to-three-hour sessions will be presented throughout the program. The structured exposures will be organized through the MICHR Education, Mentoring and Career Development Program, the IRBMED and the Pilot and Collaborative Grant Program. During these sessions, trainees will observe clinical research in action.

Eligibility:
Students enrolled in the University of Michigan schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, or Nursing and who are in good standing, are eligible to apply. Students should be interested in pursuing a career involving clinical research. The sponsor for this grant, the National Institutes of Health, dictate that persons accepted to the program must be either a US Citizen or a Non-US Citizen, Permanent Resident.

Students accepted in to the Summer Practicum must not be receiving any other federal funding.

 

 

For questions or comments on this site contact Monica Stiddom (mhealy@umich.edu or 734-998-7348).