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Medical Research Scholars Program

Press Release : NIH Announces 2023-2024 Medical Research Scholars Program Class

The Medical Research Scholars Program is a year long research immersion program for future clinician-scientists that advances health by inspiring careers in biomedical research. By engaging students in basic, clinical, or translational research investigations, offering a curriculum rich in didactics and professional development, and featuring a robust mentorship and advising program, MRSP prepares its Scholars to become tomorrow's leaders in medicine and biomedical research.

Eligibility

The 10.5-12 month program is designed for students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, have a strong interest in conducting basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological research and are currently enrolled in their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year at an accredited medical, dental, or veterinary program .

Dental and veterinary students: due to the integrated nature of the third and fourth (clinical) years, participation in the MRSP is recommended after you have completed your second or fourth year in school.

There are designated start dates in late June and July. No start dates are available prior to late June. Participants are expected to meet the required 10.5-12 month timeframe based on the established start dates of the program and leave no earlier than mid-May.

Acknowledgement Statement

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Medical Research Scholars Program is a public-private partnership supported jointly by the NIH and contributions to the Foundation for NIH, alumni of student research programs, and other individual supporters via contributions to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

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This page last updated on 05/21/2024

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Looking for ways to enrich your medical school experience? Search for fellowships, internships, summer programs, scholarships, and grants currently available in the United States and abroad.

Earn two degrees in four to five years to improve the health of the individuals and communities you serve.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) is a comprehensive, year-long research enrichment program designed to attract the most creative, research-oriented medical, dental, and veterinary students to the intramural campus of the NIH in Bethesda, MD.

Summer programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide an opportunity to spend a summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research.

Medical Research Scholars Program

Duration: 1 year

The Medical Research Scholars Program is a ten to twelve-month research immersion program for future clinician-scientists that advances health by inspiring careers in biomedical research. By engaging students in basic, clinical or translational research investigations, offering a curriculum rich in didactics and professional development, and featuring a robust mentorship and advising program, MRSP prepares its Scholars to become tomorrow’s leaders in medicine and biomedical research. An additional year of support may be available from NINDS to allow a continuation of ongoing studies where this is judged to be in the best interests of the student and the mentor. The program is open to students in their 2 nd , 3 rd , or 4 th year at an accredited medical, dental or veterinary school program.

For additional information please call the OCRTME at (301) 496-9425 or visit http://www.cc.nih.gov/training/mrsp/index.html . The application period runs from October to early January.

The NIH MD/PhD Partnership Training Program aims to assist NIH MD/PhD students by providing funding guidance and support. Most NIH institutes have MSTP-funded training slots that serve as the primary source of funding for MD/PhD students at the NIH. However, these slots and the accompanying funded are limited. As a result, each institute slot is given to an exemplary MD/PhD student who is completing their dissertation research with a principal investigator in that institute’s intramural research program.

Medical Scientist Training Programs 

The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) was developed by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to financially support the development of future physician-scientists. This program encourages students with outstanding credentials and potential to dedicate themselves to biomedical research and academic medicine careers.

Students conducting their dissertation research at the NIH may attend any medical school; however, only those accepted to a U.S. medical school’s MSTP are eligible to receive an NIH institute’s MSTP-funded slot   for the medical school phase of training.

Since funding from the NIH MD/PhD Partnership Training Program is provided by an individual NIH institutes as a supplement to a medical school’s NIGMS MSTP training grant, it can only be used at  MSTP-funded programs . Not all MSTP-funded programs fully participate, however. For more information about current participating medical schools, please contact the Director of the MD/PhD Partnership Training Program.

If you do not currently attend a medical school that participates with this program, or a medical school that does not have an MSTP grant, we encourage you to consider  other available funding opportunities .

More information about MSTP Funding is available  here .

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Submitting a fellowship proposal to support your summer research:

Here are tips to apply for funding:

• Identify faculty research mentor; communicate your interest in applying for funding. In addition to the opportunities below, the mentor may know of additional opportunities in the field.
• External Minority Medical Student Award Program (MMSAP )
• External Minority Resident Hematology Award Program (MRHAP)
• External Hematology Graduate Award (MHGA) 
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• Submit an  Intent to Submit a Proposal  form as soon as you are considering an external fellowship. Many external medical student fellowship proposals require that you submit the proposal to their agency website; you  must also  submit the proposal information to GW.  We suggest you turn this in at least four weeks before a proposal is due : it's never too early!
• Prepare the proposal, addressing any specific agency requirements, and plan for additional documentation.
• Seven working days before proposal is due : Submit complete package fully assembled (including all budgets, forms, application materials, and signatures) to the Pre-Award administrator Julia Bellafiore ( [email protected] ) for final review. GW Pre-award will continue sign offs with financial directors and the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR).
• Julia Bellafiore will email you when you may submit the final proposal to the agency website.

Contact Dr. Alison Hall, Dean of Research Workforce Development ( [email protected] )

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You Do the Research, NIH Repays Your Student Loans – Apply by November 17

If you’re going to be conducting research for the next two years, why not have your student debt taken care of while you work? In exchange for a commitment to conduct biomedical or behavioral research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will repay up to $100,000 of student loan debt with a two-year contract through the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) . NIH wants to keep highly qualified biomedical and behavioral scientists like you in the lab, so we’re here to pick up the tab on your student debt.  Check if you’re eligible  for an LRP award today and apply by November 17, 2022.

“It does not feel hyperbolic to say the NIH LRP was life changing for me, and I hope it will be for some of you too!”, said Dr. Emily Willroth , Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis.

Not funded the first time? Try, try again! On average, nearly 50% of all new LRP applications are funded. The LRPs are unique programs, with tremendous benefit to early-stage researchers, so we strongly encourage researchers that were not successful in getting their applications funded to apply again.

Changing institutions? LRP Awards are portable! Awardees get to bring their LRP awards with them when they move to a different research institution. LRP awards can also be renewed for one-or two-year periods until all educational debt is paid in full.

Ready to apply for an LRP award?  The  application cycle is now open  until November 17, 2022.

Here’s a few helpful resources to get you started:

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One comment.

Wow this is great- too bad it wasn’t offered the 18 years I was funded as an NIH researcher. Gave up and went to pharma to be able to make a dent on my student loans.

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• Policy & Compliance
• Updates To NIH Institutional Training Grant Applications

Updates to NIH Institutional Training Grant Applications

This page provides details on the updates being made to NIH institutional training grant applications for due dates on or after January 25, 2025.

On this page:

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• Peer review updates
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• Contact information

NIH has made significant investments to develop, implement, assess and disseminate innovative, effective approaches to  research training and mentoring and to prepare trainees for a variety of  career paths in the biomedical research workforce. Additionally, NIH established the  UNITE initiative to identify structural barriers and promote equity in the NIH-supported biomedical research ecosystem. Through these initiatives, the research community has identified the need for:

• Broader outreach activities to foster awareness of research training opportunities for potential trainees from all backgrounds, including individuals from  underrepresented groups ,
• Targeted recruitment activities to diversify training program applicant pools, and
• Increased mentorship opportunities to facilitate trainee success (see  Re-envisioning NIH Supported Postdoctoral Training ;  UNITE Listening Sessions )

NIH will leverage the lessons of these initiatives to enhance institutional research training programs, including by enhancing opportunities to strengthen mentor training.

Applicability:

The updates will apply to applications that use the following activity codes:

• Institutional Training – T series, e.g., T15, T32, T34, T35, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TL4
• International Institutional Training – D43, D71, U2R
• Institutional Career Development – K12, KL2

Application Updates

The updates to NIH Institutional Training Grant Applications include three key changes:

• The Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity will be its own attachment in the PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan Form.
• Mentor training expectations will be more clearly defined in the parent T32 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
• Institutional Training data tables will be updated to reduce burden and promote consistent information collection across training programs.

Updates to PHS 398 Research Training Program Plan Form

The “Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity” will be moved from being nested within the Program Plan attachment to being a separate attachment within the  PHS 398 Research Training Plan Form . The Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity Attachment will:

• Continue to be required for all training grant activity codes except U2R, and all D-series activity codes.
• Have a three-page limit, consistent with the page limits for “Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research” and “Plan for Instruction in Methods for Enhancing Reproducibility.”

Defining Mentor Training Expectations in Training Programs

The Parent T32 NOFO will incorporate new language outlining expectations for mentor training and oversight into the program considerations, application instructions, and review criteria.

Programs should consider the following, in addition to other evidence-informed curricula, as potential mentor training components and are encouraged to adapt to program and trainee needs:

• Aligning expectations
• Maintaining effective communication
• Fostering independence
• Assessing scholars’ understanding of scientific research
• Enhancing professional development
• Addressing equity and inclusion
• Articulating your mentoring philosophy and plan

Reviewers will assess the mentor training expectations included in the application.

Updates to Data Tables

Institutional Training data tables will be updated to reduce burden, focus on trainee outcomes, and promote consistent information collection across training programs. For example:

• Tables 1 and 2: Applicants will be expected to provide data only for the training stage(s) reflected in the proposed program.
• Table 5 (Publications of Those in Training) will be reorganized so that the first column is the trainee (instead of the faculty member), and applicants will be allowed to include  interim research products to which the trainee contributed.
• Table 6 (Applicants, Entrants, and their Characteristics for the Past Five Years) will no longer ask for trainee characteristics related to prior academic and research experience.
• Table 8 (Program Outcomes: Predoctoral and Postdoctoral)   will no longer include Part II “Those Clearly Associated with the Training Grant.”

Peer Review Updates

Institutional training awards will retain the five scored review criteria.  For example, for Training Grants (Ts), reviewers will continue to score Training Program and Environment, Training Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s), Preceptors/Mentors, Trainees, and Training Record when determining the overall impact score.   

NIH will now include “Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research” and “Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity” as items that contribute to the overall impact score.  These items will move from “Additional Review Considerations” and will be included as “Additional Review Criteria.”  As such reviewers will evaluate the “Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research” and the “Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity” while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score.

Notices, Reports, and Blogs

• Updates to NIH Institutional Training Grant Applications for Due Dates on or After January 25, 2025: NOT-OD-24-129 – May 31, 2024
• Updates to NIH Training Grant Applications - Registration Open for June 5, 2024 Webinar: NOT-OD-24-124 – May 8, 2024
• Open Mike Announcing updates to NIH Institutional Training Grant applications and required data tables – May 16, 2024

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This page last updated on: May 28, 2024

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Assessing the Learning Environment Perception Among Medical Students at a Tertiary Referral Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Affiliation.

• 1 Department of Anatomy and Genetics, College of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• PMID: 38826691
• PMCID: PMC11141565
• DOI: 10.2147/AMEP.S454478

Objective: To assess the perception of medical students at Alfaisal University College of Medicine (AUCOM) of their learning environment at a referral-based tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: The validated Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was administered to all year 4 and year 5 students during the academic year 2020-2021. Scores were analyzed using the descriptors provided by the questionnaire developers and compared across different students' cohorts using SPSS.

Results: The overall DREEM score was 120.45/200, which can be described as a "more positive than negative environment", indicating a positive perception with a potential for improvement. All domain scores were on the positive side except the "students' social self-perception" which had a score indicating a problematic area. Female students had a statistically significant more positive score in the domain "students' perception of learning" than male students. Scores for individual questions were persistently on the positive side except for eight questions that pointed to problematic areas in the curriculum. When compared between student cohorts, five questions had statistically significant difference in scores between students in both academic years, but only two of those had scores indicating concerning areas.

Conclusion: Referral-based tertiary hospitals can be perceived positively by students as a learning environment in undergraduate medical education. We identified some areas of concern in our curriculum to be targeted by future research.

Keywords: DREEM; Saudi Arabia; clinical training; referral hospital; tertiary hospital.

© 2024 Mairi et al.

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