Research Opportunities for Students

The Medical Center offers many opportunities for medical students to participate in research projects under the supervision of the full-time faculty. Summer research experiences are available in many areas. Many students continue research throughout the school year and may also take research electives during the clinical years. All students are encouraged to do some research so they can feel the excitement and challenge of biomedical research at the frontiers of medical knowledge and practice.

Summer Research Stipends for Medical Students

Student research stipends are available on a competitive basis for students who wish to commit a block of time to pursuing a research project. The application process involves being matched with a faculty member, preparing and submitting a research proposal to the Research and Development Committee for review and, if approved, committing a summer of effort to the project. The Associate Dean for Research and Development can provide a list of interested faculty and their research interests, as well as information on financial support for research in the College of Medicine or at other institutions. Eligibility includes medical students in good academic standing and students accepted to medical school who have yet to matriculate.

Honors Thesis

All students whose grades place them in the upper 40% of their class are eligible to write a thesis as an optional part of the medical studies. This program was established to encourage students to go beyond the standard curriculum by developing a project that will lead to a significant research experience or substantially different clinical competence than developed in the normal curriculum. The research proposal must be submitted no later than the first Monday of February of the junior year. The thesis is due on or before the first Monday of February of the senior year. The research proposal is evaluated for scientific merit, and after approval, the project is completed and the thesis is written. The Research and Development Committee evaluates both the research proposal and the thesis, and advises the Scholastic Evaluation Committee. A thesis judged to be of honors quality may qualify the student for graduation with honors distinction. Information about this program can be obtained from the Associate Dean for Research and Development.

M.D./Ph.D. Scholars Program

Visit their website for more detail about the program. http://www.unmc.edu/mdphd/

You can also visit the Office of Research and Development website: http://www.unmc.edu/UNCOM/labinfo/

Midwest Student Biomedical Research Forum

Each year, the Medical Center sponsors a Student Research Forum. Students present scientific papers or posters describing their laboratory or clinical research experiences. Outstanding presentations are selected to represent the Medical Center at regional and national student research meetings.

The Midwest Student Biomedical Research Forum (MSBRF) Committee is comprised of three medical and/or graduate students and a faculty representative from the College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center. Committee membership is for a three year period with varying responsibilities each year. The purpose of the Forum is to support and nurture student research in the health sciences.

This annual two-day Forum has been held in February since 1970. The event is designed to give students an opportunity to present their original research in either an oral or poster meeting format. Forum participants compete in one of two tracks designed to complement their research fields. Then, on the basis of judging by UNMC and/or Creighton University faculty, cash awards and/or expense-paid trips to national or regional research meetings are given.

The Forum also features an outstanding keynote speaker from a particular health science field. Previously, some of those speakers included Dr. Daniel C. Tosteson, dean of the Harvard Medical School; William Nyhan, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of Pediatrics, University of California School of Medicine at San Diego; Robert P. Gale, M.D., Ph.D., School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; William E. Beschorner, M.D., Professor, Department of Surgery, UNMC College of Medicine; and Polly Matzinger, Ph.D., Chief, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.

page last modified Wednesday June 23, 2004