The Scholarly Pathway in Translational and Molecular Medicine offers you as a UMMSM student training in biomedical research to generate a capstone project, opportunity to enhance your suitability for residency programs, and experience to keep you abreast of advances in your medical specialty and to evaluate those advances critically even after graduation. To do this, the pathway taps into the expertise of a broad range of faculty research programs that involve rigorous research.
You will begin your journey in the pathway with a common in-depth introduction to research methods, during which you will identify faculty mentors and projects that align with their interests, followed by mentor- and focus area-specific lectures and research. Working closely with the mentor, each student spends 8 weeks during the summer learning and applying sophisticated approaches to innovative biomedical problems with the aim of producing original research that can be presented at the annual Eastern Student Research Forum (ESRF) in Miami and be included in a publication. In addition to having regular meetings with your mentor, you will learn critical evaluation of research in journal clubs and meetings with other faculty and students. The pathway seeks to arm you with tools that will prepare you for a lifetime of clinical practice and continuing education at the forefront of biomedical science.
The pathway comprises 5 focus areas sponsored by a group of departments at the UMMSM. The areas work together to enrich the research experience, offer rigorous, individualized training, and provide unique opportunities for collaboration.
Why Choose the Translational and Molecular Medicine (TMM) Pathway?
- Do your own translational research for your Capstone project.Faculty in 5 sub-pathways will provide individual guidance.
- Learn lab skills and data analysis. More hands on than clinical research. Skills apply to research in every specialty.
- Network with UM faculty and students doing research.Join a research team where you are a valued colleague.
- Hone your communication skills: Gain valuable experience in writing research proposals, publications, creating posters and presenting at conferences and symposia.
- Get funded through a Summer U-SOAR Scholarship ($2000!): award prioritizes basic and translational research projects.
- See how translational and basic science research drives major advances in medicine. This is becoming increasingly important with the fast pace of drug discovery.
- Gain a deeper understanding of the foundations of medicine that will help you understand the latest developments beyond medical school and in continuing education.
- Helps residency applications: Translational/Basic research adds value to residency applications.Authorship on publications helps secure desired residencies.
Focus Areas
The pathway is comprised of 5 focus areas that are sponsored by a group of departments at UMMSM. The focus areas work together to enrich the research experience, offer rigorous, individualized training, and provide unique opportunities for collaboration. Last year, students in the pathway applied for and received UMMSOM's SOAR awards, which include $2000 financial aid for summer research.