The following table summarizes the fellowship training activities. As noted, some activities will be required and others offered on an “optional/as needed” basis.
SUMMARY OF TRAINING ACTIVITIES

Required Activities

Component

Description

When Offered

Needs assessment and development of career plan

Developed with mentor based on needs, level of experience, and personal goals

First 30 days

Guided grant writing

Tailored program for grant development

Ongoing

Responsible conduct of research

Certificate obtained online

Within first 90 days, 1 hour only

Institute for translational research lectures

Formal lecture series on research methods and ethical issues

37 sessions,
1 hour per week

Navigating the Institutional Review Board & Investigator Responsibilities

Formal lectures describing IRB process

4 sessions,
2 hours each (optional)

Grants-for-lunch

Informal lunches to develop grantsmanship skills

Monthly (optional)

Scientific writing

Formal interactive lectures to improve writing skills

5 seminars,
2-3 hours each

Small group sessions

Informal sessions with other fellows

1 seminar per week

This course teaches how to prepare high quality scientific papers and grant proposals.
SCIENTIFIC WRITING FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH

Part 1. Developing an Effective Writing Style

• Controlling word choice and sentence structure
Using extracts from the participants’ own writings as examples for discussion, the group learns how to choose words with precision, avoid overused and ill-used phrases, and compose clear and concise sentences. Participants are given practice exercises to sharpen their self-editing skills.

• Writing paragraphs and extended arguments
Building on skills practiced in the previous session, the participants learn how to construct clear and readable paragraphs and develop sound arguments that persuade the reader. Practice exercises include unscrambling poorly ordered paragraphs and reorganizing longer passages to heighten their clarity and persuasive impact.

Part 2. Writing Research Articles and Grant Proposals

• Writing productivity and responsible authorship
Participants discuss the obstacles to writing productivity and strategies for overcoming these barriers. The group learns and talks about 10 tips to writing efficiency and 7 tips for avoiding procrastination. The discussion covers how to protect one’s time for writing, creating a productive and supportive environment, using the computer effectively, recycling old work, multi-tasking, and overcoming psychological barriers to productivity. In addition, the rules of responsible authorship and peer review will be presented and discussed.

• Writing successful research articles
In a session focused on the research article, the class discusses the importance of choosing a focused, significant subject and developing it in keeping with the conventions of a scientific report. The group evaluates selections from their own articles in preparation and discusses the content and strategy of the introduction, methods, results and discussion. Finding an appropriate balance between “big picture” issues and scientific details is also considered.

• Writing successful research grant proposals
This session addresses the basic principles of successful proposal writing: selling the “big picture,” providing essential details efficiently, and making proposals as easy to read and navigate as possible. Pre-planning steps to enhance writing efficiency are also discussed. The group then focuses on appropriate content and winning strategies for each section of the NIH application: Specific Aims, Background/Significance, Preliminary Studies, and Experimental Design and Methods, plus supporting documentation. This information is useful for preparation of research grants targeting any foundation or agency.

Courses in quantitative methods, epidemiology, and prevention and public health are available to fellows. These courses are offered on campus each semester and are optional. Description of Courses

Statistical Methodology I

This course provides the student with a basic understanding of the use and interpretation of certain classical and state-of-the-art statistical techniques and in the study of health and biomedical problems. Topics to be covered are basic probability, sensitivity and specificity, Bayes Rule, population measures of location and dispersion, Gaussian distributions, point estimation, confidence intervals, classical and practical hypothesis testing, simple analysis of variance with mean separation tests, nonparametric procedures for one- and two-way classifications, least squares regression and correlation, including lack of fit tests, simple categorical data analysis including goodness of fit, and homogeneity of proportions.

Introduction to Epidemiology

This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of epidemiology. The historical development of epidemiologic research, theories of disease causation, epidemics and their prevention, measures of disease frequency, epidemiologic research, theories of disease causation, epidemics and their prevention, measures of disease frequency, risk and other measures of effect, point and interval estimation, various epidemiologic study designs, confounding and effect modification, and an introduction to stratified analysis are covered in the lectures. Case studies that illustrate the application of epidemiologic principles to substantive issues of health and illness are discussed during the class.

Prevention and Public Health

This course provides students the opportunity to acquire an applicable knowledge and general appreciation of the concepts, theories, issues and trends basic to an understanding of the physical, biological and social interdependencies that orient work and research in preventive medicine and community health. Organized in a seminar format, the course will focus on fundamental perspectives from history and philosophy, basic themes in governmental involvement with health needs, important issues in health behavior, and social policy, and concepts of environmental management.