The Collegiate Translational Medicine Program (CTMP) is a mentored, clinically-oriented translational research experience for undergraduates, offering training in translational research by exposure and immersion into specific research projects currently being conducted in the Department of Medicine. The CTMP includes 3 integrated components over the course a year-long program: 1) A clinical research experience through the University of Chicago Hospitalist Project (UCHP) where students learn to recruit, consent, and interview patients to collect data as a part of a team of clinical and translational researchers studying the health outcomes and quality of care of hospitalized patients; 2) a didactic curriculum focused on the basic science and biomedical underpinnings of ongoing translational medicine projects relevant to hospitalized patients (examples include projects in pharmacogenomics; anemia and transfusion medicine; inflammation, the microbiome and oral health; kidney stone evaluation and treatment; frailty and aging) as well as research and professional development training and career preparation, 3) a mentored research experience pairing fellows with a faculty mentor leading one of the projects featured in the didactic curriculum; through this mentored research project, the fellow will gain further experience in data collection methods, data analyses, and dissemination of results.
During the summer quarter, fellows will develop expertise in human subject research, data collection, and team science as a part of the Hospitalist Project. Partway through the summer, fellows will be paired in small groups with a translational research faculty mentor and begin work on their mentored research project. During the academic year, fellows’ time in CTMP will be split between the mentored research project, the Hospitalist Project, and the didactic curriculum. Students will present their project at an end-of-year CMTP presentation session held in May 2024. Students who complete the full CTMP program in good standing may be eligible to continue with the program for an additional year as a Metcalf Intern and will be eligible for a letter of recommendation for medical or graduate school.
The Fellowship covers a $5000 stipend for the summer research period. During the academic year, students may be eligible to receive work-study pay for the UCHP. Meet our current CTMP fellows
here.
CTMP and COVID-19
CTMP programming is expected to be in person for the 2023-2024 year. Fellows must comply with the University of Chicago’s
COVID-19 protocols and vaccination requirements. CTMP programming may be adjusted at any point to remain in compliance with university guidance regarding on-campus research and COVID-19.
Duties and Responsibilities
The CTMP Fellows will spend 37.5 hours per week in the summer quarter learning the general skills of clinical and translational research through didactic sessions on specialized topics and experiential opportunities working directly with patients. Working in a multi-tiered network of peers and mentors, fellows will learn how to work as part of a team, participate in regular team and project meetings, and receive regular performance feedback, advancing through increasingly responsible tasks based on demonstrated competency in those tasks. For example, in the domain of patient engagement in research, fellows progress through supervised follow-up telephone surveys of consented patients, to recruiting and consenting patients for observational studies, to recruiting and consenting patients for complex interventional studies. Fellows will divide their time between working with patients directly and on specialized team-based research projects which will be assigned part way through the summer session. Fellows will be expected to continue these activities for 10 hours per week during the fall, winter, and spring academic quarters.
An orientation will be held in Spring 2023 for all incoming fellows. Information will be provided to accepted fellows in April.
DIDACTIC CURRICULUM
Hour-long didactic training sessions will span the academic year, introducing CTMP Fellows to clinical research practices and to specific disease and treatment topics related to their research projects. The Hospital Medicine Research Manager and project Research Coordinators introduce CTMP Fellows to the fundamentals of clinical research: working on team assignments and shift schedules, learning how to recruit patients into projects, interviewing patients and collecting patient-reported health outcomes data, and using systems databases. Other specialists will lecture on subjects ranging from informed consent to clinical research data tools. CTMP faculty mentors will provide introductory lectures on the topics driving their current research investigations.
Didactic sessions will occur both during the summer and during the academic year. During the academic year, these sessions take place as a part of the CTMP Journal Club that takes place on the second Monday of the month from 4:30-6:00 pm. Tentative Journal Club dates for 2023-2024 are: October 9, November 13, and December 11 2023; and January 8, February 12, March 11, and April 8, 2024.
Requirements
Required skills:
Excellent written, verbal communications and analytical skills
Ability to work as a team member
Ability to manage time efficiently, multi-task and prioritize
Self-directed and able to work without supervision
Proficient computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite
Must commit to 37.5 hours/week during the summer and to 10 hours/week during the 2023-2024 academic year
Must commit to participating in the CTMP journal club series on Mondays from 4:30-6:00 during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Preferred skills:
· Programming languages R or Stata
Class Level Eligibility
All UChicago undergraduates are eligible. Students in their first or second year of undergraduate training at the time of application are strongly encouraged to apply.
Required Materials
We require:
· Resume or CV
· Cover Letter/Statement of Interest
· Unofficial Transcript
Expiration Date
Applications must be submitted by April 9, 2023.
Interviews
Interviews may be requested.
Click here to learn more about CTMP and how to apply through Handshake.
