CURRENTLY AVAILABLE OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS
Individual courses
Predoctoral medical, graduate and nursing students, residents, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and support personnel from within the University including nurses, research nurses, study coordinators and other students from the community including healthcare and public health professionals that posses a baccalaureate degree may apply as non-degree students to take individual courses.
Certificate in Clinical and Translational Sciences
A one-year program leading to a Certificate in Clinical Research consisting of 15 credits of coursework in biostatistics, epidemiology, health services research or clinical research is available for healthcare professionals seeking formal academic training.
Predoctoral medical, graduate and nursing students, residents, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and support personnel from within the University including nurses, research nurses, study coordinators and other students from the community including healthcare and public health professionals may apply as non-degree students to pursue the certificate.
Masters Degree Programs
Students wishing to obtain a Masters Degree apply to the Graduate Program and to the Graduate School. Admission criteria include undergraduate GPA > 3.0; letters of support and student’s statement regarding the need for the degree in terms of their career plans. It is strongly encouraged that students enter in the Certificate program initially and then apply during the first year of classes for admission into the Masters program.
Master of Science Degree in Public Health Sciences (PHS). The PHS Master of Science Program is a two-year curriculum, comprised of didactic and interactive components, and mentored research, whose goal is to enable students to do clinical and health services research. The program includes a core curriculum in clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical trials, and outcomes research assessment. Courses are devoted to protection of human subjects, critical appraisal of the literature, individual project design and development, project presentation, scientific communication and translational research methods. Each student undertakes a research project that s/he designs, develops, and conducts during the program in close association with a mentor in their clinical discipline and an advisor.
Master of Public Health (MPH). Based upon the success of the MS degree in PHS (above) and in accordance with the strategic plan of the University Health Sciences Council, a curriculum for a Master of Public Health was approved in June 2009 and began in the fall of 2010. MPH students learn population based methods for planning, executing, analyzing, and disseminating research results, and gain first-hand real-world working experience in the practice of public health. The MPH degree program incorporates most of the requirements of the MS in Public Health Sciences degree program, while drawing on relevant courses offered in the Departments of Health Policy and Administration and Biobehavioral Health in the College of HHD at UP. As part of their training students complete a 6-credit public health practice internship in areas such as academics, the community, the Commonwealth of PA, and the Indian Health Services. Physician trainees in the Master of Public Health Sciences program are expected to complete three components: 1) the 36-credit clinical research education program; 2) a mentored clinical research project; and 3) the physician trainee’s own grant proposal.
New CTSI Programs
The key objective of the Clinical and Translational Research Training KL2 Program is to provide a supportive interdisciplinary environment in which scholars with diverse research interests and backgrounds can network with other health researchers from multiple disciplines and acquire the skills and experience needed to become successful, independent clinical and translational scientists.
This will be accomplished through the mentored research career development of junior faculty scholars within the university who are committed to becoming leading researchers.
Applications for this competitive award are currently being accepted through November 15, 2011 for enrollment beginning in January 2012. Please check the KL2 section of our website and look for announcements regarding future calls for applications on the CTSI homepage.
The Penn State Clinical & Translational Science Institute Predoctoral (TL1) Training Program provides unique training opportunities for medical, life sciences and other clinical predoctoral students. The key objective of the program is to provide a supportive interdisciplinary environment in which clinical and translational scholars with diverse research interests and backgrounds can train with health researchers from multiple disciplines to acquire the skills and experience needed to become successful, independent clinical and translational scientists.
OPTIONS IN DEVELOPMENT FOR CTSI SUPPORTED STUDENTS
With support from the CTSI, the current solid training in clinical and translational research education will continue to expand further across the campuses. Additional new programs include a TL-1 (formerly T-32) scholarship program for predoctoral medical, nursing and graduate students. (See Figure 1)
Central to the training paradigm supported by the CTSI is the model of Translational Research Clusters (TRCs). Students supported by CTSI funds will be aligned with mentors who are members of successful TRCs in order to provide students with exceptional training environments that offer a diverse and flexible curriculum, engage students in mentored clinical research experiences and foster an atmosphere of scientific interaction and self discovery that sparks a student’s excitement for research.
MENTORING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CTSI
Workshops, seminars and regular meetings with individual mentors and members of a Mentoring and Career Development Advisory Panel (MCDAP) will provide trainees with the fuel to sustain that excitement by educating them about the tools and skills needed to address the issues, challenges and obstacles encountered when pursuing a career in translational research.
A Mentoring and Career Development Program for students and faculty at all levels is being established that draws heavily from the current Junior Faculty Development Program, the advisory committees in place for the current CRTP, and the Community Engagement Research Team.
