Southern Illinois University
MEDICAL STUDENT RESEARCH POLICY
Revised January 2006
Guidelines and Procedures: Preparation, Submission,
and Review of Medical Student Research Proposals
 Introduction
The Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
offers a broad range of learning opportunities
to prepare students for a variety of medical
careers. An important educational experience
for some students is participation in basic
science or clinical research. This report, prepared
through the Educational Policy Council (EPC)
and the Research Policy Committee (RPC), has
the following objectives:
- To encourage qualified students to participate
in substantive faculty-supervised research
and to implement and reward such participation.
- To set guidelines for elective credit for
research activity.
The purpose of this document is to encourage
students to become involved in substantive projects.
General Comments
Qualified and interested students are encouraged
to participate in mentored research projects.
Although participating in research during medical
school is not an academic requirement, personal
involvement in a research project at this stage
of career development has high educational value.
Designing a project, collecting and analyzing
data, and presenting the conclusions allows
the student to apply prospective scientific
thought processes, more fully appreciate evidence-based
medicine, and experience the practical difficulties
inherent in carrying a project to completion.
This type of experience will also teach to more
carefully evaluate published articles in deciding
whether to incorporate new findings into their
clinical practice. Further, research experience
may expand students' future career opportunities
in the choice of residencies or careers in academic
medicine.
Motivation to engage in a student research project
may come from several sources. A student may
simply want limited exposure to research in
order to better understand the research process.
Some students may welcome the opportunity to
work with a specific faculty member or in an
area of personal interest. Students may wish
to pursue career development in basic or clinical
research.
A medical student interested in research should
first contact a faculty member who is interested
in being a faculty mentor to discuss his or
her interest in conducting a research project.
A list of faculty mentors is available on the
web page of the Office of the Associate Dean
for Research and Faculty Affairs.
Types of Research Projects at SIUSOM
Students may become involved in research at several
levels. First year medical students can participate
in the Mentored Professional Educational Experience
(MPEE) program during the summer between their
first and second years. Information about the
MPEE program is available on the SIU and SIU
SOM Websites. In other years, students in the
third or fourth years may choose a currently
available two- to four-week elective with a
specific faculty member. This sort of elective
is valuable, yet represents only a brief introductory
experience. Students may choose to pursue their
projects more extensively and independently,
without elective credit. This sort of long-term
project often is more rewarding and productive.
Elective credit for all research, whether performed
on school or on personal time, requires prior
approval of the Year 3 or Year 4 Committee as
applicable. Each student will be allowed a maximum
amount of research elective credit. The student
should be aware that to complete a research
project, including preparation for presentation
or publication may require time in addition
to the elective time.
To encourage elective participation in significant
research, students must be aware of research
possibilities and appropriate awards must be
available as described later in this document.
Additional Degree Possibilities
In addition to the M.D. degree, some students
may wish to obtain degrees that include research
experience and training. For further information
on this possibility, the student should contact
the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
Guidelines for Elective Credit for Research
Students seeking brief (2-4 week) electives directly
or indirectly related to research should apply
in the usual fashion through the Year 3 or Year
4 Elective Committee.
Students seeking major time commitment for elective
research should follow the guidelines outlined
in this report. All projects should have both
scientific and educational merit. Choosing a
major research elective is a privilege and a
challenge, and marginal students would be better
served by focusing on electives more clearly
germane to graduation. Therefore, research electives
should be approved on an individual basis by
the Year 3 or Year 4 Committees using suggestions
outlined below. Students will be held accountable
for their projects in order to receive elective
credit and must receive certification of satisfactory
performance by the faculty mentor.
While recognizing that a “critical time
block” is necessary to successfully complete
a project, other electives are also important
for a balanced medical education. Three months
of uninterrupted research is considered to be
a reasonable maximum time period. Elective research
time can be combined with other part-time electives.
Actual time involved, however, should be approved
in advance by an individual faculty member as
well as by the Year 3 or Year 4 Committees.
With the agreement of the mentor, students are
also free to pursue non-elective research activities
on vacation or other personal time, and some
students may choose to engage in part-time research
throughout their medical school careers. Some
students may choose a research elective in year
four to complete an ongoing project.
Specific Suggestions for the Encouragement, Implementation,
and Reward of Student Research
The faculty and the Office of the Associate Dean
for Research and Faculty Affairs hold major
responsibility for encouraging student research.
Faculty members are responsible for supervising
student research, while the major responsibility
for regulating student research lies with the
Year 3 and Year 4 Committees.
Faculty members are surveyed annually regarding
their interest in serving as mentors for elective
student research. A list of participating faculty
members is distributed annually to all four
classes by the Office of the Associate Dean
for Research and Faculty Affairs.
Students interested in a substantive research
experience should contact the individual faculty
members of their choice. After a specific mentor
and research area are identified, the student
must prepare a written project proposal with
the assistance of the faculty member. This document
should include a description of the project,
a budget and budget justification, and a proposed
schedule for completion of the project, as detailed
later in this document. The length of the proposal
may vary. If the student is participating in
an ongoing faculty project, a brief summary
of the project and the student’s proposed
role in its completion is sufficient. For new
projects, students are expected to submit a
more detailed protocol. Students are strongly
encouraged, but not required, to become familiar
with the National Institutes of Health application
forms and procedures. The proposal should be
submitted to the Office of the Associate Dean
for Research and Faculty Affairs, who will then
forward it to the Year 3 or Year 4 Committee
for assessment of educational merit and appropriateness
of elective time requested. If not already approved
as part of a pre-existing project, the proposal
must also be approved by any other appropriate
school committees such as the Springfield Committee
for Research Involving Human Subjects (SCRIHS),
Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee (LACUC),
Radiological Control Committee (RCC), and/or
the Infection Control and Safety Committee (ICSC)
before the project can begin. The medical student
should participate in all approval processes
required for the research project. To receive
research elective credit, the student must complete
the project to the satisfaction of the faculty
mentor.
General Instructions on Writing a Research Proposal
The following general comments about writing a
research proposal are taken from National Institutes
of Health (NIH) grant application instructions.
They are relevant to writing any research proposal.
Although students are not required to follow federal
guidelines in preparing a research proposal,
doing so will familiarize them with the requirements
they will encounter should they decide to submit
grant applications to NIH later in their careers.
Further information about the NIH application
process can be obtained from the Office of the
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs.
The research plan portion of a proposal should
be written so that it is specific and informative
but without redundancies. Brevity and clarity
in the presentation of the research plan are
considered to reflect the investigator’s
approach to a research objective and ability
to conduct a superior project. While being succinct,
the investigator should, on the other hand,
never assume that reviewers of the proposal
are already familiar with the research proposed.
Therefore, complete information should be provided.
The most successful applications contain a well-defined
problem with a well-defined approach. The research
plan should answer the following questions:
- What do you intend to do?
- Why is the work important?
- What has already been done?
NOTE: Please be judicious in compiling the bibliography.
It should be relevant and current, not exhaustive.
Facilities
Indicate the facilities to be used, and briefly
describe their capacities and capabilities.
Lay Research Summary (One paragraph is sufficient.)
In lay, not technical language, briefly summarize
the medical or scientific importance of the
proposed research project to the public.
Submission of Research Proposal
The research proposal must be signed by the student
and the faculty mentor before being submitted
to the Office of the Associate Dean for Research
and Faculty Affairs (ADRFA). The faculty mentor’s
signature indicates his or her approval of the
proposed amount of time to be spent on this
project as well as approval of the project itself.
The Office of the Associate Dean for Research
and Faculty Affairs will forward the proposal
to the Year 3 or Year 4 Committees for review
and approval. Students should be mindful that
the complete review process can take up to four
months, especially if the proposal involves
the use of human subjects or animals. Students
are encouraged to be directly involved in the
committee application and revision process.
Request for Funding and Budget Justification
The principal funding source for medical student
research resides with individual faculty members
and their departments. Should department resources
be insufficient, the Office of the Associate
Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs will consider
sharing costs for medical student research.
This funding will be limited to expenditures
for commodities and contractual services will
generally be limited to $1,000 per project,
and will represent no more than 50% of the cost
of the entire project. The department of the
faculty mentor should be willing to fund at
least half of the cost. Exceptions to this funding
limit will be considered. The supervising faculty
member will be the chief fiscal officer for
all approved funds. Students can request such
support by submitting the proposal, including
budget and budget justification, with an appropriate
cover letter explaining and justifying the need
for support, to the Office of the ADRFA. Faculty
members selected by the ADRFA will review the
proposal for scientific merit. Decisions on
funding will be based on scientific merit and
availability of funds. If, during the course
of a research project, the student anticipates
a delay in its completion, he/she must notify
the Office of the ADFRFA to request an extension.
- The budget request can include only
commodities and contractual services. Personal
stipends are not permitted because this
program is viewed as an educational experience
and not as employment.
- Itemize the specific commodities
needed. Commodities are defined as items
that individually cost less than $50 (e.g.,
glassware, chemicals, animals, animal housing
costs (per diem), radioisotopes, and in-house
printing; and the specific contractual
services, such as Biomedical Communications
and the Research Imaging Facility).
- Justify all items requested.
- Should an award be made by the Office
of the Associate Dean for Research and
Faculty Affairs for this research proposal,
the student’s faculty mentor will
be the fiscal officer for the award, and
an account will be established in the faculty
member’s name.
Students are also encouraged to apply for outside
grants and scholarships. For information on
external research funding available to medical
students, contact the Office of Student Affairs
and/or the Office of the ADRFA.
Human Subjects, Laboratory Animals, Radioisotopes,
Biohazards
If the research proposal involves the use of human
subjects, laboratory animals, radioisotopes,
or biohazards, the proposal must also be submitted
to and approval obtained from the following
appropriate committee(s) before the proposed
research can be implemented: Springfield Committee
for Research Involving Human Subjects, Laboratory
Animal Care and Use Committee, Radiological
Control Committee, and/or the Infection Control
and Safety Committee. The Office of the ADRFA
(545-7936) should be contacted to obtain the
necessary forms and instructions for preparing
protocols for review by these committees. Review
by these committees can take place simultaneously
with the review of the research proposal, but
funds will not be awarded amd final approval
will not be given until all committee approvals
are in place.
Review of the Research Proposal
Research proposals submitted for projects for
which elective credit is requested will be reviewed
as follows to determine the appropriateness
of elective time required, the educational merit,
and the amount of funding, if any, to be awarded:
Year 3 or Year 4 Elective Committees: The
Year 3 or Year 4 Elective Committee, as
applicable, will review to assess the proposal’s
educational merit and the appropriateness
of the proposed elective time and credit.
Office of the Associate Dean for Research
and Faculty Affairs (if funding
is requested): This office will arrange
for review of the proposal by faculty
members to assess scientific merit.
A decision on funding will be based
on the scientific merit and the amount
of resources available.
Reporting Requirements
- Mandatory
- At the completion of the research
project, the faculty mentor must
certify that the student has
performed satisfactorily. Both
the student and faculty member
must fill out the appropriate
paperwork for credit to be awarded.
- Optional
- Students are strongly encouraged
to report on their research
accomplishments in the form
of an oral presentation
with slides at the annual
Combined Research Symposium,
which is planned and organized
by the Office of the ADRFA
in conjunction with Alpha
Omega Alpha Honor Medical
Society and SIUC Chapter
of Sigma Xi. This event
is held in the spring of
each year. Presentations
are judged, and awards are
presented for the best medical
student projects of the
year. Students are encouraged
to submit worthy projects
for publication.
Travel for Presentations
Students who complete a substantive research project
are encouraged to orally present their research
at national meetings. The sponsoring department,
the Office of Student Affairs, and the ADRFA
will each contribute one-third of the travel
costs with a maximum total of $1,200.
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