From Research Enterprise
First-year Medical Students Seek Clinical Research Opportunities

A group of highly motivated medical students in Wright State's class of 2010 want to supplement their training with clinical research experience. They have begun to look for student research opportunities for the summer of 2007, and most are willing to continue in research positions throughout medical school.

Many already have significant research experience, according to Jessica Hoying (at right in the photo). Nathan Weir (left) worked on cisplatin-induced drug resistance in human ovarian cancer cells as an undergraduate at The Ohio State University. Susan Braunlin (center) joined a Vanderbilt University anthropology team studying "DNA and the Ancient Americas." She plans to return to the Peruvian Andes this summer.

Hoying earned an M.S. degree in anatomy at Wright State before she entered medical school. Her thesis research on keloid fibroblasts was conducted in the laboratory of Richard Simman, M.D., assistant professor of surgery.

"Since I was from the Dayton area, many of my classmates came to me with questions about how to find research projects here," Hoying says. She decided to survey her class about their research experiences and aspirations. Nearly one-third of her classmates responded. Hoying presented the results at the March meeting of the Boonshoft School of Medicine Executive Committee.

"Faculty may be wary about taking medical students into their labs," Hoying told the SOM leadership. "They think they'll have to spend a lot of time training them. Almost everybody in the survey had some research experience and knew techniques that could be beneficial in a lab."

The survey found previous student experience ranged from research on stem cells to public health, E2F transcription factors in breast cancer to efficiencies in ACLS instructional methods. Students are looking now for new research experiences in four broad areas: surgery, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and neuroscience.

The class of 2010 reported multiple reasons for wanting research experience, according to Hoying. Many have done research as undergraduates and want to continue in medical school. Even halfway through year 1, many are beginning to plan for residencies that favor applicants with prior research experience. Others expressed curiosity about the possibilities of research careers and the integration of research and practice in evidence-based medicine.

"These students are highly organized," Hoying says. "They tend to be perfectionists. Whatever their motive for doing research, they're going to do a good job."

The Office of Research Affairs is working with Hoying and her classmates to identify faculty mentors and research projects at Wright State that fit student interests. Research Affairs will send letters of introduction to selected department chairs and faculty in March. After the introduction, medical students can follow up by scheduling appointments with potential mentors.

Faculty and medical students who want to get involved in the class of 2010 initiative can contact Mark Willis in Research Affairs (937/775-3814; mark.willis@wright.edu) for more information.