Objectives of the UCF College of Medicine Individualized Study & Research
The goal of this module is to ignite passion in medical students—specifically, to allow them to pursue their own interests while being exposed to research topics and scientific methods important to healthcare and medical science. The course will provide a basic grounding in scientific and research methods and expose students to possible focus topics through lectures, colloquia and seminars. Students will be encouraged to find innovative areas of research and will work with a mentor (from UCF or the community) who is approved by the course director.
Students are encouraged to pursue research projects for which they have excitement and passion. For many, that will lead to study in the traditional biomedical sciences. For others that may mean research in health education, health policy, health business, health law or other related fields. Students will be limited only by their imagination and their willingness to work hard to reach their goals. The objective is to foster a desire within students to develop creative approaches to the field of healthcare and medicine, formulate hypotheses regarding the feasibility and impact of their novel approaches, and design experimental protocols to test and assess the outcomes.
Students will complete a project contract (either individually or in teams) and present their projects to the class at the end of the first year. They will be required to engage in self-assessments and to devise plans to address areas in need of development in the second year. Students will be required to complete all or part of their project or study in the second year. Projects and research may extend into the third and fourth years.
To provide additional visibility for these research efforts, the college has included a miniconference on research that will highlight the projects of the second-year students. The conference is scheduled so that both first-year and second-year students can attend. For students continuing research into the fourth year, there will be another opportunity for presentation. The expectation is that each of the projects will result in a scholarly presentation or publication.
How You Can Get Involved
If you would like to submit a research proposal and mentor one of the medical students, please contact Soraya Smith at 407.823.5574 or sorsmith@mail.ucf.edu. Please submit a brief (one or two paragraph) description of your project. The project needs to be something that can feasibly be completed by a first year medical student.
There's no deadline, this is a continuous project and the UCF College of Medicine will always need opportunities for the next incoming class!
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