The Indiana University School of Medicine is a major medical research center, and education of its medical students in an atmosphere of research and scholarship is an enduring and high priority. Research is defined as “careful study that is done to find and report new knowledge about something” and scholarship is defined as “serious formal study or research of a subject” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Formal research is a hypothesis-driven investigation while scholarship additionally may entail observational and experiential activities. All medical students at IU School of Medicine must adhere to the scholarly and research compliance guidelines as outlined in the compliance page, our IU School of Medicine Compliance Guide, and the IU School of Medicine Honor Code.
First-year medical students at IU School of Medicine are presented with two main opportunities to pursue research and scholarly activities during their undergraduate medical education. The first main opportunity is the Scholarly Concentrations program, providing selected students an optional longitudinal and extracurricular experience in scholarship, research, or community engagement that complements the medical school curriculum. The second main opportunity arises during the summer between medical school year 1 (MS1) and year 2 (MS2). Students in good academic standing and without the need of remediation for MS1 coursework are eligible to apply for and participate in the Indiana University Medical Student Program for Research and Scholarship (IMPRS) summer research program. First-year medical students selected to participate in the IMPRS summer research program spend ~10 weeks engaged in research and/or experiential activities in one of four available academic medicine tracks: Translational/Laboratory Research, Clinical Research, Community Health and Education Research, and Health Outcomes Research. The IMPRS summer research program entails programmatic enrichment for all participating students including weekly seminars or workshops highlighting responsible conduct of research, the scientific method in action, research rigor and reproducibility, research and scientific communication skills, and career development. These seminars and workshops are available in person and online to allow access for all students participating in IMPRS state-wide. At the termination of the summer, a scholarly product is required from each student participating in the IMPRS summer research program. At a minimum, each student is required to provide a 250-word abstract describing their research project, a case report, or their experiential participation during the summer that will be presented as a poster at the annual IMPRS Research Symposium. All IU medical students may also compete for national research scholarships, fellowships. or other research gap year experiences as advertised on the school’s webpages or newsletters.
In addition, IU medical students state-wide may participate in research or scholarship during MS4 in the form of advanced science electives and research electives. The MS4 advanced science and research electives are tailored and generated on a student-by-student basis. These electives are customized in a student-specific manner to optimize learning and research in the student’s chosen medical specialty.
These research and scholarly activity opportunities will be communicated to students in a standardized manner via lead advisors through the Mentoring and Advising Program, Career Mentoring office, as well as informational sessions and newsletter advertisements throughout the year. Students will be encouraged by the lead advisors to consider engaging in a research or experiential activity early in their training either via IMPRS (between MS1 and MS2), via the Scholarly Concentrations program. Phase 1 students will be directed to the SCP and IMPRS applications available online and Phase 2-3 students will be counselled when generating their MS4 academic schedule.