APSA Newsletter - Phi Psi, 2006 Summer, Volume 1, No. 1

Welcome!

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Jason R. Mann, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

I don't know about you, but in my experience the quest for double doctorhood is exciting, challenging, and . . . lonely. Do you ever feel like you don't quite fit in any one world?(my grandma) When are you going to get a real job? (science friends) Why are you going to the hospital? (clinical friends) When are you going to stop playing in the lab and do some real medicine? Sometimes I feel like no one understands the agony and ecstasy of this path.

From the President's Corner

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Freddy T. Nguyen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This year has marked tremendous growth for the American Physician Scientists Association. In addition to furthering our alliances and impact of APSA, we have been able to bring about several new initiatives capitalizing on the organization's momentum to benefit and support future physician-scientists.

MD/PhD Programs: One Size Does Not Fit All

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Chirag B. Patel, University of Texas-Houston

Here at UT-Houston Medical School, our MD/PhD program is unique in that it encourages us to complete three years of medical school before pursuing doctoral research in the lab. The vast majority of US MD/PhD programs go by the 2-3-2 schedule, wherein students complete the first two years of medical school (basic sciences), undertake three years of research towards their PhD (although this number is incrementally increasing each year), and then enter the hospital to complete the last two years of medical school (clinical rotations).

Pursuing Clinical Research: A Case Study

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Brian S. Fuehrlein, University of Florida

The University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine and the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) actively engage first year MD-PhD and medical students in clinical research. While the UF MD-PhD students typically complete the traditional basic science PhD, this additional program allows for the development of future clinical investigators, a unique concept among medical school curriculums.

APSA? What's APSA?

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Steven K. Lau, University of California-San Diego

I'll always remember my first patient. She came to UCSD's student-run free clinic with problems hearing. After a brief workup, it became evident that she had an unfortunate case of earwax. In my premedical naïveté, I neither expected to "cure" earwax in the clinic nor at the bench. After all, what study section would fund a project on earwax? I was surprised then one morning, to find the genetic basis of earwax make headlines (1,2). Somebody thought it was important and was willing to financially support earwax research.

Physician and Scientist . . . Two Strands of the Helix?

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Kofi Mensah, University of Rochester

As another academic year draws to a close and the day of graduation with the dual degree gets closer, the perennial question arises: how does one effectively combine the clinical and scientific aspects of medicine? While the answer to this question may not be as textbook as a cell-culture protocol, several institutions have a framework in place to help students along in defining the answer that will be best for their individual interests.

A Road Less Traveled: Transition to the Lab

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Kim Parker Gannon, University of Mississippi

After conquering the USMLE Step 1, we move into another dimension of sorts. While our peers head off to the wards filled with a variety of diseases, we set out studying viruses, bacteria, cell cultures, mice, rats, etc. It's a different world! Many of our friends walk the halls in their starched white coats and we exchange the normal greeting - "What rotation are you on now?" Because of this, you may have found that the first few weeks of graduate work are daunting and lonely. BUT - we are privileged! No more pick one of the five answers given to you - we have the freedom to create and develop new ideas and lab procedures. No set hours - but the autonomy to arrive as early and work as late as we choose; a chance to master time management and learn to work effectively and efficiently.

A Happy Medium: Five-year Research MD Programs

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Stephanie T. Weiss, Ph.D., Cleveland Clinic

Although many student physician scientists enroll in MD/ PhD programs, there are also five-year programs that award research MD and/or MD/MS degrees. These programs are ideal for students who want to be researchers, but who do not want to complete an entire PhD. One such program is the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, located in Cleveland, OH. CCLCM is a joint program between Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (www.clevelandclinic.org/cclcm). The 32 students in each CCLCM class are officially Case students, but we have our own curriculum that is for the most part independent of the main Case medical school program.

Connecting with the fUTRe: fMRI & You!

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Amanda Cuevas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

When you think of fMRI, what comes to mind? You probably think of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, right? Well, at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana- Champaign, fMRI has another meaning. At Illinois, fMRI stands for future Medical Research Investigators Pre-MD/PhD Club. The organization was established in 2001 specifically to give undergraduates interested in pursuing an MD/PhD the skills and tools they will need in order to become successful applicants to MD/PhD programs. This is accomplished through a variety of mechanisms-many of which are in conjunction with the activities of the UIUC Medical Scholars Program (MSP), one of the largest MD/PhD programs in the country. fMRI currently has approximately 250 members.

APSA Project: Residency Database

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Mattie Nicholas, University of North Carolina

Residency application, a daunting process to begin with, become even more complicated for those interested in combining research with clinical practice. Since aspiring physician-scientists make up a relative minority among residency applicants, information about their options is more difficult to come by.