UC San Diego Medical Scientist Training Program

Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. This section must be no longer than 30 lines of text. This application seeks support for the Medical Scientist (MD/PhD) Training Program (MSTP) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The UCSD-MSTP began in 1974 and has grown considerably since its inception, especially in recent years. It currently has 95 trainees who attend the UCSD School of Medicine (SOM, to obtain their MD) and UCSD or the Scripps Research graduate programs (to obtain a PhD). The curriculum begins with an MSTP-created Bioinformatics Boot camp, laboratory rotation and research ethics training at an annual community-building summer retreat. This is followed by preclinical coursework and experiential activities, including two additional laboratory rotations and a clinical clerkship before the students enter graduate programs for didactic courses and research efforts that result in a PhD thesis. Near the end of PhD training, the students participate in a clinical re-immersion course, after which they complete clinical training in medical school. The entire training is designed to be completed in 7-8 years with streamlining through cooperation by the UCSD SOM and graduate programs. The UCSD-MSTP enriches those educational activities and integrates the medical school and graduate school training phases with certain courses, required clinical activity during graduate school training and close monitoring and mentorship by the MSTP leadership. The UCSD-MSTP includes multiple activities to create and nurture an MSTP community, including by having entering students align with a Big-sib and thereby become part of a Sib tree. The Sib-trees are situated in one of 4 “Houses”, each of which is overseen by an MSTP graduate physician scientist faculty member. This arrangement and multiple other activities are designed to promote mentoring and a strong sense of community among the MSTP trainees. The UCSD-MSTP is committed to safe, ethical, and rigorous research training with nurturing mentors and involves MSTP leadership (Co-Directors, Associate Directors and Assistant Directors (who are the “Heads of Houses”) in oversight of all phases of the training. Trainees are expected to “take ownership” of their academic and post-MSTP career but the MSTP leadership and faculty help guide and advise them at each phase of the Program. The UCSD-MSTP utilizes multiple facets of the UCSD campus and affiliated research institutions and receives substantial (financial, housing and programmatic) support from the campus and in particular from UC San Diego Health Sciences. Graduates of the Program have had substantial success as part of academic medical centers and in commercial entities. This MSTP has had a successful track record and has introduced new features to maintain and expand its contribution to the country’s need for physician-scientists who make an impact on biomedical science and healthcare.