Summer Research Training in Aging for Medical Students

The proposed T35 program will provide annual financial support for up to sixteen medical students to spend eight weeks during the summer between first and second years of medical school working on aging- related research. For this renewal application, the T35 program’s objectives remain: (1) to provide students excellent research mentors and aging related research projects to stimulate their interest in aging research; (2) to engage medical students and spark their interests in principles of clinical care for older adults and in geriatric medicine; (3) to run a high quality program that identifies highly qualified students, assures strong mentorship, and optimizes the probability that research will lead to presentations and publications and future careers in aging research and geriatric medicine; and (4) to acquire data to judge the success of the program and to modify the program to make it more successful. The Summer Research Training in Aging for Medical Students program will coordinate with the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) so that students from other medical schools, as well as NYU Grossman School of Medicine (GSoM) students, can participate. An experienced Geriatrician and researcher will be the Program Director (PD) assisted by two Associate Program Directors (APDs) familiar with career mentoring for medical students, geriatric curriculum development, and the NYUGSoM’s new curriculum that emphasizes research. An internal advisory board (IAB) will advise the PD and APDs on selection of mentors and projects, review evaluation metrics, and suggest program improvements. Each year the PD and the IAB will select experienced researchers who are also successful mentors, and solicit from them aging research projects for students. These researchers will work closely with students during their summer experience to ensure the successful implementation of a research project suitable for abstract, presentation and publication. Throughout the eight weeks, students will participate in weekly interactive didactic session related both to research and to geriatrics/aging. Students will also have the opportunity for clinical experiences appropriate for rising second year students. At the end of their experience, students will formally present their research projects to other students and mentors. They will also be required to submit an abstract for the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Annual meeting, and/or another professional society. Students will be strongly encouraged to attend these meetings to present their research. To track the success of the program, students and mentors will be surveyed at the end of the program regarding their experience, and how the program can be improved. Students will also be surveyed in the middle and end of medical school and at the end of residency, to assess their career achievements and goals related to aging and research.