Training & Education

The educational contributions of the IDCRP included three broad areas during FY 2011.

Graduate Classes

The first involved the IDCRP’s continuing support of the graduate programs at the Uniformed Services University. IDCRP staff again taught three graduate level courses for Masters of Public Health (MPH) students, as well as several additional residents, and fellows.  The primary clinical research series within the MPH degree program, which includes the Fundamentals of Clinical Research and Research Design and Analysis, was very popular and had the highest enrollment since the inception of these courses.  The Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Disease course, also within the MPH program, was very well attended.

Mentoring Junior Researchers

These courses frequently led to the IDCRP’s second focus of education efforts, as mentors of junior researchers - including students, residents, fellows, and graduate students.  This is supported by many of the IDCRP physicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, and research design.  Two doctoral degrees were conferred by thesis committees led by IDCRP staff.  In what has become an annual event, a Clinical Research Workshop for fellows and junior staff was presented by the IDCRP faculty during the 2011 Joint Armed Forces Infectious Disease Society and IDCRP spring meeting, which for the first time was merged with the annual scientific meeting of the Military Infectious Disease Research Program (MIDRP).  This year’s workshop focused on “practical statistics” and “research funding” and was very well attended with enthusiastic feedback. Also, several members of the PCC have continued to play key roles in the USU School of Medicine curriculum reform process, to develop a modern and military relevant curriculum for future active duty physicians.

Mentored Fellow’s Research Grant Program

A final group of activities extend the mentorship role of IDCRP researchers into a newly developed “Mentored Fellow’s Research Grant Program.”  This effort launched in mid-2011 seeks to streamline the protocol development and approval process for fellows, while providing the support of a team of research design experts, statisticians, subject matter experts, working in conjunction with fellowship program directors.  The goal is to encourage fellows to rapidly develop and launch modest clinical research projects which can be taken from a “concept and hypothesis stage” to a “completed project” during the limited time available for research during 2 and 3 year fellowships.  A portion of research funding has been set aside to guarantee reasonable support for protocol execution; as well as to help sponsor fellows to present their successful work at local and national meetings.  Since mid-2011 three new proposals have been selected for development within this new program.