Research Opportunities for Medical Students

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First Year Opportunities

Second Year Opportunities

Third Year Opportunities

Fourth Year Opportunities

For all students

Faculty Members seeking student assistance with Research Project

2016 AHA Scientific Councils Student Scholarships

The Scientific Councils of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association want to stimulate interest, knowledge, and investigative work by students in medicine, nursing, public health, nutrition, and other allied health disciplines to conduct research projects related to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and basic sciences early on in the course of pre-doctoral training.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Scientific Councils are pleased to invite applications for the 2016 Student Scholarships in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke and the 2016 Student Scholarships in Cardiovascular Surgery.

Who is Eligible?

  • Students in medical schools or in masters or equivalent programs in an accredited school in the United States where research training in cardiovascular disease and stroke is available are eligible to apply. Eligible students will be conducting a cardiovascular or cerebrovascular research project beginning in the summer of 2016.
  • The award is intended as a stipend while a student spends a meaningful period on the research project, either in a block of several months or spread out over a longer period.
  • Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students in the basic sciences, who have presumably committed to research careers, are ineligible unless, in the latter group, the Ph.D. was obtained previously in an area not related to the area of the proposed study.
  • Selected applicants and applicants’ preceptors must be current members of the AHA/ASA at the time of application.
  • As many as five students from a single school within an institution may be considered for the scholarship. However, the scholarship committee reserves the right to award only one applicant from a given school each year. No student may receive an award more than once.

Awards

Student Scholarship in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke: The institution will receive a $2000 scholarship to be used as a stipend for the selected student. The top recipient of the Student Scholarships in Cardiovascular Disease will also be designated the Howard S. Silverman Scholar and will receive an additional $1000 stipend.

Student Scholarship in Cerebrovascular Disease: Partial payment of $1500 will be made to the institution at the beginning of the project to be used as a stipend for the selected student. The remaining $500 in funds will be paid to the institution at the conclusion of the research project upon receipt at the AHA of the required final reports. A $750 travel stipend to attend the AHA International Stroke Conference 2017 will be paid to recipients of the Student Scholarships in Cerebrovascular Disease upon verification of an abstract accepted to the AHA International Stroke Conference 2017.

Student Scholarship in Cardiovascular Surgery: The institution will receive a $2000 scholarship to be used as a stipend for the selected student. Awardees are expected to attend the annual leadership meeting and report their experience to the CVSA Leadership Committee at Scientific Sessions 2016. Awardees will also receive a complimentary ticket to the Annual Business Meeting (Council Dinner) and a 1-year complimentary AHA membership.

Please visit the scholarship website for complete criteria and instructions for applying to one of the 2016 Scientific Councils Student Scholarship Programs.

For additional information, please e-mail council.awards@heart.org.

William B. Bean Student Research Award

The American Osler Society announces the William B. Bean Student Research Award for support of research in the broad areas of medical history and medical humanities.

Requirements:

  • Candidates must be currently matriculated students in approved schools of medicine in the United States or Canada.
  • The research award is 1,500 with the possibility of an additional $750 to support travel.
  • Successful applicants may be eligible to present a paper based on his or her findings at the annual meeting of the American Osler Society.

Evaluation Criteria:

  • The project should represent scholarship in medical history and/or the medical humanities.
  • The goal should be realistic and stated clearly.
  • The project should be original and conducted with a scholarly approach.
  • The applicant should demonstrate familiarity with the revelant literature, in part through appropriate citations.

The application deadline is March 1, 2017.

View the application instructions and further information.

International Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies – Call for Abstracts

The International Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies aims at improving the knowledge, treatment and outcome regarding peritoneal surface malignancies, thereby encouraging new research initiatives and exchange of new scientific data. Therefore, the 10th International Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies will provide a platform for research from institutes that are active in this field. In order to have multidisciplinary discussions during the conference, all involved disciplines such as surgery, radiology, medical oncology, pathology, and pharmacology are invited to submit abstracts to the program. The 10th International Congress intends to create sufficient room for free papers and posters to be presented. Selected abstracts will be incorporated into the plenary sessions.

Abstracts can be submitted in the following categories:

  • Pseudomyxoma Peritonei and Appendiceal Adenocarcinoma
  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Peritoneal Mesothelioma
  • Ovarian Cancer
  • Gastric Cancer
  • Unusual Applications of CRS and HIPEC
  • Basic and Pharmacological Research
  • Organization and Structure of Regional/National Peritoneal Surface Oncology Programs

Submit your abstract or for more information regarding abstract submission guidelines.

Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday, August 15, 2016, 5pm

For more information regarding the meeting and to register, please visit: PSOGI.COM.

Faculty Members seeking student assistance with Research Project

QI project titled Skin and Soft Tissue Injuries in Anesthesia

Skin and soft tissue injuries are known complications of airway instrumentation during delivery of anesthesia, with potentially prominent impact on quality of life for patients. However, the prevalence of these injuries is under-documented in the literature. A student completed a pilot study on this t0pic, which produced several questions that Dr. Wall wishes to investigate further and therefore he has expressed interest in working with other students to continue this research with more prospective data collection and analysis. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of skin and soft tissue injuries among patients undergoing an operation at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital (MGUH) and identify major risk factors.

If interested, please contact Dr. Russell Wall at wallr@gunet.georgetown.edu.

(Posted July 29, 2016)

Title: Hepatitis C screening, testing, and management from Primary care physicians’ perspectives

We are looking for an enthusiastic, responsible and dependable medical student to conduct in-person one-on-one interviews with primary care physicians (PCPs) to understand their perception of Hepatitis C (HCV) risk assessment, screening, management, and linkage to care at a system level. Each interview will take about an hour, and we anticipate between 5-15 interviews will be carried out in the next 6 months. The student will receive training to conduct the interviews from members of the research team.

If interested, please contact Judy Huei-yu Wang at jw235@georgetown.edu.

(Posted July 28, 2016)

Dr. Kathleen Anderson in Palliative Medicine has the following research projects that require student participation

If interested, please contact Dr. Anderson at kathleen.g.anderson@gunet.georgetown.edu.

Title: Surrogate Decision Making in the ICU: When a known wishes are undermined

Disciplines: Bioethics, Palliative Medicine, Critical Care Medicine
Description: This is a case study and qualitative analysis on one family making critical decisions in the ICU about end-of –life care.  Work involves IRB submission, chart review, transcribing semi-structured interviews, analysis of the ethics of surrogate decision making.
Requirements:  ~30 hours in July/August of IRB training and submission. The timing of the rest of the project can be worked out with mentor.

Title: How access to advanced care planning documents helps patients in the ED and ICU

Disciplines: IT, QI, Palliative Medicine, Primary Care, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine
Description: This is a QI project looking at doctors’ access to advanced care planning and how improving the EMR can help patient and doctor communication.  Work involves creating and administering questionnaires, doctor education, analysis.  This is a prospective project which needs some time commitment (although hours will vary greatly) throughout the year.
Requirements:  ~30 hours in July/August of IRB training and submission.  The timing of the rest of the project can be worked out with mentor.  Interest in IT and EMR use preferred.

Title: The impact of an arts and humanities program on palliative inpatients

Disciplines: Integrative Medicine, Palliative Medicine
Description: In 2015, the Palliative Medicine Program joined with the Lombardi Arts and Humanities (A&H) Program to have artists use music, song, and meditation to help relieve the high symptom burden of palliative inpatients. This study is examining the impact of A&H interventions on pain, dyspnea, anxiety, and satisfaction.  Work would involve attending regular research meetings, subject recruitment, data entry, and interpretation.  This is a prospective project which needs some time commitment (although hours will vary greatly) throughout the year.
Requirements:  ~15 hours in July/August of IRB training.  The timing of the rest of the project can be worked out with mentor.

Title: A novel use of transcutaneous biliary drains in malignant bowel obstruction for end-stage patients

Disciplines: Interventional Radiology, Palliative Medicine, Oncology

Description: Case series looking at a unique therapy for cancer patients with bowel obstruction. Project involves collaboration with IR and Palliative attending, literature reviews, and chart reviews on this retrospective series.

Requirements:  ~30 hours in July/August of IRB training and submission. The timing of the rest of the project can be worked out with mentor.

(Posted July 27, 2016)

Opportunity for M4 student

Title: The prevalence of Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms in Liver Transplant Recipients

If interested, please contact Dr. Timpone at timponej@gunet.georgetown.edu.

(posted July 27, 2016)

Evaluation of Barriers to Inquiry learning and Advocacy in the operating room communities of practice.

We are looking for raters to score residents’ advocacy/inquiry communication during simulations.

We are looking for two raters who will participate once a month (Thursdays from 9AM-4pm) for 6 months (starting August through Jan ’17).

Interested students can contact PI – Kumudhini Hendrix, MD at kumudhini.hendrix@gunet.georgetown.edu (new window).

(Posted July 21, 2016)

Interested in Military Medicine?
Dr. Michael Roy (michael.roy@usuhs.edu) at USUHS, has many projects going on regarding mild TBI and PTSD among Combat Veterans and is interested in having students participate. Projects include but are not limited to: 

Evaluation of Barriers to Inquiry learning and Advocacy in the operating room communities of practice.

We are looking for raters to score residents’ advocacy/inquiry communication during simulations.

We are looking for two raters who will participate once a month (Thursdays from 9AM-4pm) for 6 months (starting August through Jan ’17).

Interested students can contact PI – Kumudhini Hendrix, MD at kumudhini.hendrix@gunet.georgetown.edu (new window).

(Posted July 21, 2016)

Interested in Military Medicine?
Dr. Michael Roy (michael.roy@usuhs.edu) at USUHS, has many projects going on regarding mild TBI and PTSD among Combat Veterans and is interested in having students participate. Projects include but are not limited to: 

If interested, please contact Dr. Michael Roy at michael.roy@usuhs.edu.

(Posted July 21, 2016)

QI Project in Critical Care
Dr. Tunay Kuru in the Division of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine has an ongoing QI project that is assessing adherence to benchmarks in the care of patients in the ICU. She will initially need  a student to be available for at least 2 hours for 2 days to be trained . The student must have skills in collecting data and creating/completing a data spread sheet/excel. This project will meet the criteria for the ISP requirement. The student will need to be available during the next week to participate in this project.

For more details, please contact Dr. Tunay Kuru at TK53@gunet.georgetown.edu.

In-Traning, the Online magazine for medical students

in-Training is looking for medical students of all class years to submit articles and essays about their experiences in medicine for peer-edited online publication.  

With an emphasis on humanism in medicine, in-Training is run entirely by medical students and serves as an outlet for budding physician-journalists and writers at all medical schools around the globe.
 
in-Training is also looking for medical student editors to join the 27-member Editorial Board. If you are interested in editing and working with a dynamic staff to produce in-Training, contact editorinchief@in-training.org.
 
For more information, visit in-training.org and subscribe to the twice-monthly newsletter. Please fill out the interest form or contact editorinchief@in-training.org if you are interested in writing, editing or reporting for in-Training.

1st Year Students

M1 Research Panel
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Audio (new window)
Powerpoint Presentation (new window)
Health Justice Scholar Track slides (new window)

Title: Summer Research Experience Program in Oncology

Are you interested in research and is thinking about specializing in oncology?

Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY is offering summer research opportunity that is open to first-year medical students. View the flyer highlighting program information.  

Apply online for the Summer Research Experience Program in Oncology at Roswell Park.

(Posted November 6, 2017)

2nd Year Students

An Interventional Radiology Attending is looking for a motivated and ambitious 2nd year medical student who might be interested in participating in a research project with him; this has the potential for an abstract/publication/poster presentation.
Contact: Ryan Navarro (ryannavarro@gmail.com)

3rd Year Students

UCSF Orthopaedic Health Policy Research Fellowship

At MGUH the current practice is to assess the Morse Fall Score for each inpatient every shift.  This score does not include medications which are well documented in the literature to pose an additional risk for falling. The purpose of this study is to provide data to support the role of a medication risk assessment score in combination with the Morse Fall Score to use in clinical practice.  Ideally this information will lead to practice change across the MedStar system. Phase I of data collection consists of examining the Morse Fall Score and Medication Risk Assessment Score for inpatients who fell in 2015 (n=300). In order to perform the Medication Risk Assessment, students should be able to easily identify which class of medications a particular agent belongs to.  For example, looking at a medication administration record, the student should be able to identify that furosemide is a diuretic.  This will be a multi-phase project with opportunities for presentation and publication.  The data is being collected in conjunction with the MGUH Falls Committee who is very invested in this process improvement project.

If interested, please contact Amy Ives, Pharm.D., BCPS at Amy.L.Ives@gunet.georgetown.edu.

(Posted July 29, 2016)

4th Year Students

At MGUH the current practice is to assess the Morse Fall Score for each inpatient every shift.  This score does not include medications which are well documented in the literature to pose an additional risk for falling. The purpose of this study is to provide data to support the role of a medication risk assessment score in combination with the Morse Fall Score to use in clinical practice.  Ideally this information will lead to practice change across the MedStar system. Phase I of data collection consists of examining the Morse Fall Score and Medication Risk Assessment Score for inpatients who fell in 2015 (n=300). In order to perform the Medication Risk Assessment, students should be able to easily identify which class of medications a particular agent belongs to.  For example, looking at a medication administration record, the student should be able to identify that furosemide is a diuretic.  This will be a multi-phase project with opportunities for presentation and publication.  The data is being collected in conjunction with the MGUH Falls Committee who is very invested in this process improvement project.

If interested, please contact Amy Ives, Pharm.D., BCPS at Amy.L.Ives@gunet.georgetown.edu.

(Posted July 29, 2016)

Title: The prevalence of Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms in Liver Transplant Recipients

This project is open to a 4th year student interested in Internal Medicine. The student will need to perform a retrospective chart review and prepare a database for analysis. 

If interested, please contact Dr. Timpone at timponej@gunet.georgetown.edu.

(posted July 27, 2016)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Electives Program (CEP) is a unique opportunity for senior medical and dental students to gain invaluable experience in the medical field and obtain graduation credit.  The CEP offers four to 12-week clinical elective rotations to both national and international senior medical or dental studnts in a multitude of medical disciplines at the NIH Clinical Center. Students can choose from a total of 33 clinical electives.  Rotations provide students with the opportunity for direct experience in the care of patients enrolled in investigational protocols under the mentorship of world renowned clinician-scientists.  Participants also learn about the design and conduct of clinical trials and fundamental principles of translational medicine while evaluating or treating patients in the clinic or on the wards.  In addition, the program offers a number of opportunities for students who are interested in research-only rotations.

To be eligible for most electives, a student must have completed clerkships in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Surgery (or have verification of a passing grade in the case of pending clerkships).  Questions regarding the program are answered on their website (new window) under “FAQs (new window).”

For more information, please visit: http://www.cc.nih.gov/training/students/clinical_electives.html (new window).

Archive

Opportunities for 1st Year Students:

Opportunities for 2nd Year Students:

Opportunities for 3rd Year Students:

Opportunities for 4th Year Students:

  1. A randomized controlled trial comparing virtual reality and imaginal exposure therapy for combat-related PTSD
  2. A randomized controlled trial comparing investigator-directed vs. self-directed use of smart phone apps to reduce PTSD symptom severity
  3. A driving simulator to improve driving performance and reduce symptoms after traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  4. A study to compare eye tracking patterns in PTSD and TBI
  5. A large cohort study that includes novel structural and functional neuroimaging techniques in TBI, PTSD, and healthy controls