Training Medical Students in NIDDK Research

Abstract
Research during the early years of medical education trains medical students in quantitative reasoning, and
scientific literacy as well as expose them to mentors who have devoted their careers to investigation. It thus
sharpens their understanding of the processes by which the practice of medicine develops and improves as
well as stimulating their interests in research careers. The curriculum at the Vagelos College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Columbia University now requires that all medical students produce a “Scholarly Effort” before
graduation expanding our pool of applicants. Research in basic and clinical aspects of Diabetes,
Endocrinology, Obesity, Kidney, Urology and Digestive Diseases is particularly strong at our medical school
with 60 investigators having current RO1 grants. Over the past 4 years, 70 of our students applied each year to
enter the T35 training program. While we had initially asked for an annual support of 12 students, there were
many more qualified applicants and through re-budgeting of our non-training funds we were able to fund 51
students working in these areas (~13/year). The students attended weekly seminars in important topics
including career development and the responsible conduct of research. In addition, we hosted a weekly journal
club specific for NIDDK trainees where mentors discussed their current research using their publications in
high impact journals. We acted as a regional center for medical student research in NIDDK funded fields
recruiting 5 additional students who worked with our mentors. The outcomes have exceeded our expectations,
since its inception in 2012, 14 of our students over this short period decided to dedicate an additional year of
research to their projects; 39 of them published 90 peer-reviewed papers, 18 as first authors, and most
presented their work at local, national or international meetings. The Program will be supervised by a
recruitment and admission committee that will choose the students from the applicant pool, a committee that
follows their progress and an internal advisory committee that helps the PI/PD in running the program. Finally,
a career development committee will aid the students in making important career decision as they progress
through medical school as well as evaluate the program. We are starting a new collaboration with the City
University of New York where the majority of medical students are from under-represented minorities. We hope
this new effort will provide a “pipeline” of such students into our program.

Grant Number: 5T35DK093430-14
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: QAIS AL-AWQATI