EINSTEIN-MONTEFIORE INSTITUTE FOR CLINICAL & TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

At the conclusion of their training, scholars who successfully complete this program will receive the degree of Master of Science in Clinical Research Methods. The Program is dedicated to imparting concrete skills that will enable Scholars to conduct clinical research studies and to helping our scholars to develop research careers. Although our biostatistics and epidemiology courses provide a foundation for doing research, our approach is “applied” and we also link a course on how to analyze data using STATA software to the three courses in the biostatistics sequence. We also teach grant writing, have a consultant for public speaking and include lectures that address career issues.

This program will prepare participants for the wide range of careers encompassed by the term "clinical or translational research." This will, to be sure, include work in academic settings, but graduates will also be prepared to do clinical research in other settings, such as industry, health care systems, and government. It is important to realize that our graduates are poised for independent research careers but in most cases require additional years of mentored research and focused training according to their research topic. There is also a critical need for continued protected time. Thus our grant writing course focuses on Faculty Developing Award applications ( i.e., K23).

While physicians comprise the majority of the class, there are two slots available for Einstein medical students and consideration is definitely given to allied health professionals and graduate students. Our class size is small and diverse with respect to specialties and research topics. Any health professional or student is encouraged to contact the program director to inquire about eligibility. Remember that all Scholars must be affiliated with Einstein or an affiliate.

We require that Scholars devote half of their professional activities to this program and more during the first summer. This estimate is based a 40 hour work week. Put another way, we do not want Scholars to spend more than 20 hours per week with their other professional activities. We do not think that the reading, studying, and writing should be relegated to evenings after working a full clinical day. The 50% protected time (80% in the first summer) should allow the Scholars to complete the bulk of the assignments during the day in an environment suitable for this endeavor.

We are asking a lot - 80% protected time during the first summer and 50% thereafter for the duration of the program. Participants in this program must be able to devote the time required, or they will not succeed. However, all applicants to this program, whether fellows or faculty, do not fully control how their time is spent. To ensure each participant's probability for success is maximized, we require assurance from a responsible party that her or his time will made available (including demonstrable reductions in clinical, administrative, or teaching obligations), and that all necessary resources will be provided.

We maintain a class size between 10 and 15 clinician Scholars. Based on our experience we believe that some of the valuable interactive teaching and learning we have accomplished may be lost if the group gets much larger.

Applications and references are submitted electronically and include a CV, personal statement and a brief description of a proposed research project. Four letters are required including a statement from a proposed faculty mentor a statement of support from the applicant's training director, division head, or chairman (as applicable) and two letters of recommendation (addressing the applicant's potential as a clinical researcher). An official transcript from the applicant's medical school (or other professional school) . Personal interviews are also required with the Program Director, the Director of Admissions and another member of the CRTP Admissions Committee.