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Scholarly Concentration Project

Description: This is the course for students participating in a scholarly concentration project. Students will gain first-hand knowledge and experience in scholarly activities by developing and conducting scholarly inquiry appropriate to their concentration and of interest to them. This course is required to earn a Scholarly Concentration designation.

Course Director: Deb Birnbaum, MBA, Scholarly Concentrations Program Director

Email: debbirnb@iu.edu
Phone: 317-278-3044

Primary contact for Adds/Drops: Will vary by campus
Type of course: On-site

Learning objectives:

By the end of this course, a student will be able to:

  1. critically review and use the scientific literature to design a research project (PBLI1)
  2. prepare a research proposal (PBLI1)
  3. apply basic statistical tests appropriate to a research project (MK5)
  4. use basic research methods and/or quality control criteria to address a specific hypothesis (PC5)
  5. seek and accept feedback from colleagues, faculty, supervisors, advisors and other health care professionals and incorporate information into daily practice (PBLI2)

Course activities:

Students will gain first-hand knowledge and experience in scholarly activities by developing and conducting scholarly inquiry appropriate to their concentration and of interest to them. This work can take place during the four years of medical school. It could involve testing a hypothesis, studying a problem, performing a quality- improvement process, asking a new question of an established cohort or dataset, acquiring advanced skills and their application, producing an IRB protocol, etc.

Completion of the project will form the basis of a scholarly concentration product. The topic of the project must be agreed upon with a faculty mentor. Students are expected to meet intermittently with a faculty mentor during the project.

Estimated time distribution: 100% Laboratory/Scholarly Research

Time expectation will vary based on project to achieve the desired scholarly product.

Assessments:

Through the following, the faculty mentor will assess the student using an established rubric and recommend Pass/Fail to the course co-directors who will assign Pass or Fail.

  • Mid-point draft of final product (35%)
  • Assessment tool completed by mentor at mid-point and final (25%)
  • As appropriate, feedback from outside IUSM or a relevant IUSM colleague (20%)
  • Periodic meetings (20%)

Prerequisites: Scholarly Concentration enrollment

Interprofessional collaboration: No