RESEARCH

Put Money in Students' Pockets, Provide Clinical Research Experiences and Insights

Full-Year (12-Month) Training Program

Basic Information

• Deadline to apply: December 21, 2007
• Accepts 9 full-time trainees
• Each receives a Master of Science degree in clinical research
• Participants focus on one of 5 personalized specialty tracks
• Stipend: $20,772 + full tuition support and health care coverage
• All participants must be either a U.S. citizen or non-U.S. citizen, permanent resident (NIH requirement)
• Online application available at link below

5 Specialty Tracks

• Drug Development and Discovery
• Genomics and Proteomics
• Tissue, Device, and Regenerative Medicine
• Health Care Delivery and Outcomes
• Clinical Translation and Community-Based Research

More information on the Web: www.med.umich.edu/cacr/mcrit.

Summer Practicum (12-Week) Training Program

Basic Information

• Deadline to apply: February 1, 2008
• Accepts 10 trainees (predoctoral students)
• Program has four components
• Stipend: $5,193
• Online application available at link below

4 Components

• Orientation and required training in protecting human subjects and responsible conduct of research
• Mentored participation in an ongoing research project
• Group project in clinical research
• Weekly structured programs on different stages of clinical research

More information on the Web at www.med.umich.edu/cacr/mcrit/summer.htm.

Here are two opportunities dental students may wish to seriously consider.

The first - one year of dental school tuition fully paid for and a stipend of about $20,000; total value, approximately $50,000.

The second - a three-month program offering a stipend of nearly $5,200.

The full-year and three-month opportunities are part of the U-M Multidisciplinary Clinical Researchers in Training Program (MCRiT) that is designed to attract more students to careers in clinical research.

At U-M, dental studentsÉalong with those in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and kinesiologyÉare eligible to participate. The two programs began in the summer of 2006. The second year of the programs began in August.

Deadlines Approaching

However, to be considered for the full-year, 2008-2009 program, students must apply before December 21, 2007. For next summer's program, the deadline to apply is February 1, 2008.

"Both programs are great opportunities for dental students who are giving serious consideration to a career in clinical research or have already decided to pursue clinical research as a career after graduation," said Dr. William Giannobile, director of the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research (MCOHR). Giannobile is a member of the Executive Committee for both training programs.

In addition to receiving a full-year stipend of approximately $50,000, Giannobile said the opportunity to earn a master's degree and focus on one of five clinical tracks are other reasons for strong interest in the program.

Giannobile talked about the two programs during a meeting with the School's Board of Governors this spring. Several board members said they wished they had these opportunities when they were in dental school, adding they thought there would be considerable interest among dental students.

Nine students participated in the 12-week summer practicum last year.

This summer, ten students participated including two who are now first-year dental students at U-M, Lindsay Rayburn and Meghan Dubois. [See page 60.]

Giannobile said that in addition to the clinical research experiences the students receive, the multidisciplinary elements of the program give them exposure in areas they might not otherwise receive including statistical analysis, data quality, and how to design a clinical research study.

The programs are a part of the National Institutes of Health's "Roadmap Initiative for the Reengineering of the Clinical Research Enterprise" launched by Elias Zerhouni, NIH director since 2002.