The Mentored Scholarly Activity

This research includes projects that test hypotheses using laboratory-based methods. Projects in basic science areas investigate basic physiological, molecular and cellular regulatory mechanisms using model experimental cell, organ and whole animal systems. Because all cells have a common origin in evolution, knowledge of these basic mechanisms could be useful for patient diagnosis, prognosis and therapy in the clinic.

Projects could focus on Neuroscience, Immunology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics, or Cell and Developmental Biology (see below). The information gained could be used in a translational (Bench to Bedside) manner in which basic science techniques and knowledge are applied to clinical problems (see examples below). Although your level of participation may be a long-way off from any clinical application, you will see how scientific discoveries can lead to medical breakthroughs, even when they are not planned to do so. For instance, Azacytidine was developed to treat cancer but is used to treat AIDS by inhibiting the HIV virus.

Sometimes, the discoveries are serendipitous, like penicillin inhibition of bacterial infections by Fleming or the discovery of vaccines by Pasteur! You will be able to answer your patients when they ask you, "Why does it take so long to develop a drug?"

Examples of completed MSA projects in Basic Biomedical Science:

1. Investigating the mechanism of action of drugs for targeted cancer therapy
2. using mouse models and human cells in culture
3. Using mice to test ideas about rejection during organ transplantation
4. Synthesizing potential antibacterial antibiotics
5. Developing a mouse model to test a cancer vaccine
6. Measuring genetic polymorphisms in patients with auto-immune disorders
7. Determining prognostic biomarkers for cancer using advanced molecular pathological analysis.
8. Using a rat model to study neuro-degeneration
9. Studying molecular mechanisms of auto-immunity in type II diabetes

Resources for Basic Science Thematic Area

• Basic Science Introductory Presentation
• Basic Science FAQ

Associate Director

John Tentler​

My thematic area is Laboratory-Based Biomedical Science; sometimes referred to as “bench to bedside”.

We focus on human experience and an examination of the meaning and values associated with health, illness and healing. This content area deals not only with descriptive questions - what is the case - but also with normative questions - what should be the case? There are many disciplines represented in the humanities: ethics / law / art / literature / history / philosophy /religious studies. The following disciplines are included in the social sciences: medical anthropology / sociology / psychology / health policy / education.

You may be more familiar with the research methodologies in the social sciences. They can range from interviews with key informants and focus groups, to observation of behaviors with validated tools, to survey questionnaires about personal or social attitudes and behaviors. They may also include the analysis of current data bases of health related attitudes and behaviors. Scholarship in education can include the development and evaluation of curricula; applying theories of feedback to new methods to help clinicians teach at the bedside; or investigating the relationship between teaching behaviors and student learning.

Scholarship in the humanities may be more unfamiliar. Each discipline has its own literature and critical methodologies. One core activity is the critical reading and interpretation of texts and the construction of arguments to support claims. Common to all is the need to formulate good questions, choose the appropriate critical methodology, investigate the subject thoroughly, analyze carefully, and report clearly.​​​

Associate Director

Daniel Goldberg​

My thematic area is associated with the more human side of medicine and includes projects in bioethics, literature, history, arts and medical education. Learn More >>

Clinical research is aimed at addressing knowledge gaps, safety gaps, evaluation of treatments or diagnostics, and outcomes – all within the clinical realm of patient care. This is usually quantitative research employing the scientific method (using statistics to test a hypothesis), but may be descriptive (case reports of unusual presentations). Clinical research projects often include:

• Analysis of clinical trial or disease databases
  
• Analysis of disease features or procedures in cohorts by using an existing database or doing an electronic medical record search; typically assessing for predictors of specific outcomes
  
• Performance and evaluation of local small clinical trials (pilot or phase I-II) of drugs, diagnostics, devices
  
• Performance and evaluation of other interventions such as outreach, counseling or teaching (patients, families)
  
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of diagnostic procedures/tests in a disease or condition
  
• Evaluation of epidemiologic features of a disease population
  
• Using surveys to characterize features of a diseased or at-risk population
  
• Translational research (analyzing patient samples in a laboratory): use information from blood, DNA, RNA or tissue analysis to make correlations with clinical manifestations or clinical responses to treatment
  
• Mechanistic research on human physiology, such as projects using imaging, oral or IV infusions, stimulation tests, exercise physiology, vascular function, pulmonary function, sleep, etc
  
• A case report or case series with an extensive review and summary of the related literature (unusual disease or dramatic presentation, novel surgical approaches, etc.)
  
• A literature search summarizing features of less common diseases or outcomes/safety of novel surgical approaches or tests (may involve only descriptive statistics)
  
• Meta-analysis of the literature regarding a disease or intervention (specific statistical approaches required)
  

Director
James Maloney

Clinical investigation focuses on the whole person as the unit of analysis to examine the safety and effectiveness of diagnostic and treatment regimens. 

An MSA in Global Health focuses on a topic or research question specific to a population abroad or a domestic refugee population. MSA projects are completed with the help of a faculty or community mentor with practical experience in global health. The MSA project may address any issue affecting the health of individuals and populations, and may take the form of clinical research, a humanities and social science question, or a public health/epidemiology inquiry. The MSA in Global Health includes time abroad to design and implement a project to address the scholarly question.

All interested students considering a global health MSA project abroad must apply for the Global Health Track, which provides additional coursework and guidance relevant to International projects (only students in the Global Health Track can participate in an MSA project abroad. There are special requirements to travel abroad, please refer to requirements to the Global Health Director). For additional information on how to apply for the Track prior to matriculation, please go to SOM Admissions.

We look at groups rather than individuals. Why do some get certain illnesses, while others do not? How do you define and select populations to study? What can you learn by studying groups that you cannot learn by studying individuals?

Populations can be studied with methodologies that range from simple description with interviews with written, audio or video records to analyses that involve complex statistical models. The challenge is to identify questions that can be answered best through population-based studies, identify appropriate populations that are available to study, implement methodologies that will help answer the questions, and translate the answers into ways to improve the health of the public.

Population-based scholarship can be organized in many ways: categories like international health and rural health define populations by place or level of economic development. Occupational and environmental health defines populations by jobs and exposures to toxic agents. Infectious and chronic disease epidemiology defines populations by the diseases they get. We also look at the impact of public policy on population health. There are many other ways to categorize population studies: by nutrition, injuries, war and disasters, poverty, age, and insurance status for instance.

Associate Director

Sarah Rowan

My thematic area is Community and Public Health, and Epidemiology. We look at health from a broader perspective—examining how health, interventions, or policies impact populations. Learn More >>

The Mentored Scholarly Activity (MSA) program has contracted with the Center for Innovative Design & Analysis (CIDA) and the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics to develop a biostatistics consulting resource that is available to all medical students when working on their MSA project. This document outlines this new resource.

Overarching goals:

• To assist medical students with developing statistical literacy as applied to their project.
• Help the student develop a design and analysis framework that is doable by the medical student in consultation with their mentor and biostatistics faculty and graduate students.
• Provide peer-to-peer and one-on-one feedback on the design and analysis aspects of the student’s project.

Individual Consultation - Request Here

Through our consulting clinic program, we offer students one-on-one consultations with a CIDA graduate research assistant, during which we can assist with the following: 

• Review and assistance creating testable study hypotheses  
• Choosing a study design 
• How to calculate a sample size and create a justification 
• Developing an analysis plan 
• Reviewing analysis code or procedures 
• Interpreting analysis output 
• Review of tables and figures 

We encourage students to attend as many clinics as are helpful throughout the duration of their project, and to come in the early phases of your study planning. Clinic appointments are available most weekdays. Students must register 48 hours prior to attending clinics. 

Prior to registration, it is advised to review these links for organizing and format your data

• Dataset Format Guidelines
• Organize Data for Statistical Analysis

The biostatistics graduate students who staff these clinics are primarily R, Python, and/or SAS users. For guidance on implementing analyses in these languages or other software (e.g., SPSS, JMP, STATA) after receiving statistician guidance on appropriate methods, see:

• LISA Lab Short Courses: https://www.colorado.edu/lab/lisa/services/short-courses
• UCLA: https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/other/mult-pkg/whatstat/ 

Students must register 48-hours prior to attending any clinic:
Register here

Biostats Microgrant
If more extensive analyses are needed and funding is not available through the mentor, MSA students have the ability to apply for a small grant for additional analytical support from a CIDA biostatistician. 
More information on submission requirements and deadlines for these grants can be found under the MSA small grant program tab at MSA Biostats Microgrant.

Collaborating with a biostatistician
In instances where it becomes clear the project requires design or analysis methodology well beyond the skill set of the medical student, the medical student and their faculty mentor will be referred to the Center for Innovative Design & Analysis.  CIDA will develop a scope of work with anticipated costs. It is expected that the faculty mentor will help the student identify mechanisms for covering the costs of implementing such a study. 

Questions? Write cida.admin@cuanschutz.edu.

 

Colorado Multiple Institutional Review Board (COMIRB)

 

Strauss Health Science Library and Writing Center Consultation Request

Selecting a Mentor

Some of the best ways to find a mentor and a project are:

1. Review previous Capstone projects (posters) contained on this site for areas that may interest you before completing the MSA Interest Form.
   
2. Complete the MSA interest form in Canvas. This tells us a bit about your background and your interests. One of the Associate Directors will then contact you and help connect you with a potential mentor.
   
3. Search the CU PROFILES database using key words.
   
4. Ask upper classmen in your Advisory College about projects that worked well and would benefit from having an additional student join in.
   
5. If you currently have a discipline of interest (e.g., Neurology), use the department contact lists provided in the below section “Department Contacts." Also, join the interest group(s) for your specialty of interest to meet mentors and identify projects in those areas.
   
6. Ask faculty who you interact with in your classes or Traverse weeks about their work and whether they would be interested in taking on a student.
   
7. Your Associate Director can also help you find a mentor. Please contact him/her for assistance. You can use e-mail or contact them by phone. Please see the right side of the page for the contact information of the Associate Directors. If you have trouble contacting your Associate Director, please contact som.msa@cuanschutz.edu.
   
8. Finding A Mentor on the Health Sciences Library’s Mentored Scholarly Activity Guide has some help and guidance for finding mentors.
   
9. The goals of these pursuits are to help you identify a project in an area of your interest, to select a mentor who can support you in completing your project, and in the process have you become competent with applying a scholarly approach useful in any area of medicine.

Questions for your potential mentors:

• Ask your mentor about their research activities and their interests after you demonstrate to them you have some familiarity with their work.
  
• Have they mentored student scholarly projects before?
  
• What is a typical day like for your potential mentor?
  
• Will they have time to mentor you over the next four years if you choose them as your mentor?
  
• Also, consider asking them their thoughts on important areas for further research or gaps in the medical literature of their field that they think could be further explored through an MSA project.
  
• Are there other people in your department that they recommend you reach out to?
  
• Make sure to discuss your anticipated timeline. I.e., Are you planning on doing intensive work over the summer (between MS1 and MS2 years)? Let them know you’ll have more time in your MS2/LIC year for meetings and work on the project.
  
• Is it realistic for you to also have a first author poster and attend a national meeting in the specialty (hopefully presenting your work)? Is this a project that might lead to publication? Will you work primarily with the mentor or other team members?

Making the Most of your Mentor/Mentee Relationship...

• Zerzan JT, et al. Making the most of mentors: a guide for mentees. Acad Med 2009;84:140- 144.
• https://hr.nih.gov/sites/default/files/public/documents/working-nih/mentoring/pdf/tips-mentees.pdf

• School of Medicine Department Contacts
• Children's Hospital Department Contacts
• Potential Projects from Graduating Class of 2021
  

Simples Rules for a Good Poster Presentation

Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation by Thomas Erren and Philip Bourne offers some simple rules to guide you in the development of your poster presentation. 

Author Philip Bourne offers additional presenation suggestions in his article Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presenations.

Taming the Graphics

Now that you have a handle on your prose, let’s take a look at how to arrange the text on the poster and add supporting images to engage and educate your viewer. 

Here are several sites that provide an overview of principles of good poster design. 

Tips for Posters in the Humanities from Stanford
This brief section touches on some ideas for posters in the humanities.

Designing Conference Posters by Colin Purrington
This is an blog entry that has many good examples. The writier has fun with describing good and bad layout and has some creative ideas thrown in also.

Printing Suggestions

Below are some suggestions for printing your Capstone poster given to us by students and staff. 

http://www.makesigns.com/ (Links to an external site.)
 -- or --
 PhD Posters (https://phdposters.com/ (Links to an external site.)). 

Use contacts at the appropriate facility to receive detailed instructions on how to receive your badge:

• Denver Health - Sarah.Rowan@cuanschutz.edu 
• VA - SOM.MSA@cuanschutz.edu, james.maloney@cuanschutz.edu
• UCH & CHCO - SOM.MSA@cuanschutz.edu
  

Fall Semester

• Attend MSA Introduction Lecture
  
• Complete an Interest Form during Orientation.
  
• Meet with an Associate Director one-on-one between (See syllabus).
  
• Identify a project and mentor.

Spring Semester 

• Review relevant scholarly literature.
  
• Participate in the Annual Capstone Event as an evaluator in (See syllabus).
  
• Submit MSA Comprehensive Project Outline in (See syllabus).
  
• Complete an online scientific method research module in (See syllabus).
  
• COMIRB - If your project involves human subjects, you must complete the COMIRB certification online and plan ahead to submit your protocol

MSA Summer IDPT 5091 Course

Note: The summer elective is optional. If completed, this course fulfills the Fall Phase 2 IDPT 6090 requirements and will appear as a fall grade on transcripts. The student would not be enrolled for IDPT 6090 during the Phase 2 Fall term.

• Attend Summer IDPT 5091 Orientation
  
• Meet/communicate with your mentor at least bi-weekly. You will be expected to work on your MSA project for 25 hours per week, for 4 weeks.
  
• Submit Abstract and Annotated bibliography.
  
• Upload PowerPoint slides for Work in Progress Presentation.
  
• Present current status of project and participate in Work in Progress sessions.
  
• COMIRB certification and approval notice (if your project requires COMIRB approval) .
  
• Students will be required to complete online evaluations and meet with the course directors as necessary to provide feedback.

Fall Semester

• Meet with associated Director for a One-on-One meeting 
  
• Communicate with mentor regularly. 
  
• COMIRB certification and approval notice (if your project requires COMIRB approval).

Spring Semester 

• Watch Video Recording: How To Do a Literature Review
• Submit and Annotated Bibliography

Phase II Assignment Resources

• Annotated Bibliography Instructions
• Work in Progress Presentation Instructions and What to Include
• Abstract Instructions
• Work in Progress Grading Rubric
• PubMed Essentials Video

Fall Semester

• Meet and communicate with mentor regularly regarding progress on project.
  
• Utilize non-curriculum time for intersessions and other time for investigation or refinement of project. 
  

Spring Semester

• Submit a Narrative Reflection in (See syllabus).
  
• Begin planning for Phase IV electives. It is recommend students enroll in one MSA Research Elective if their project is not complete. See Phase IV menu under “Phase IV Research Electives” section. 
• Submit an updated MSA Comprehensive Project in (See syllabus).

Note: If you do not have a project and need assistance finding a mentor and/or project, please connect with your Associate Director or the MSA Coordinator at som.msa@cuanschutz.edu.

Fall Semester

• Meet and communicate with mentor regularly regarding progress on project.
• Utilize non-curriculum time for intersessions and other time for investigation or refinement of project. 
• Submit an Abstract in (See syllabus).
• Present and give peer feedback at a Work In Progress (WIP) session in (See syllabus).
• Submit an update on MSA Project in (See syllabus). 

Spring Semester

• Begin planning for post-clerkship electives. It is recommended students enroll in MSA Research Elective(s) if their project is not complete. See Post-Clerkship MSA Electives below.

Post-Clerkship MSA Electives

Main Content: IDPT 8091 and IDPT 8093 are each 4-week elective courses students can take in their post-clerkship phase. These courses are intended to be a time to focus on completing MSA project papers or prepare for the Capstone presentation. 

• Students work intensively with mentors on their chosen MSA Project. 

How to sign up for an elective

• Register for the elective through Oasis. 
• You will be placed on a waitlist as a formality until your enrollment has been reviewed. 
• IDPT 8091 is a pre-requisite for IDPT 8093, so you will not be able to register for IDPT 8093 until you have been added to IDPT 8091.
• You also must contact your mentor about enrolling in the elective and upload the mentor approval (an email with the section dates is sufficient) within Oasis under “Research Information”.

 Alpine Assignment Resources

• Work in Progress Presentation Instructions and What to Include
• How to Write an Abstract
• Abstract Instructions
• Work in Progress Grading Rubric
• How to Give a Scientific Talk (WIP)
• How to Create a Scientific Poster 

Note: If you do not have a project and need assistance finding a mentor and/or project, please connect with your Associate Director or the MSA Coordinator at som.msa@cuanschutz.edu.

Fall Semester

• Students who did not complete intensive coursework in Phase I or II should schedule up to two research electives. Each elective is four weeks in length and are IDPT 8091 and IDPT 8093. Each course should only be taken once beginning with IDPT 8091. 
  
• Work on project between (See syllabus). 
  
• Meet with mentor regularly
  
• Submit the rough draft of your paper
  

Spring Semester 

• Submit a 10-25 page Final Paper or Published Paper. Incorporate feedback from draft paper from your MSA Director or Associate Director
  
• Deliver Capstone Presentation and participate as a peer evaluator.

Phase IV Assignment Resources

Paper - The paper will describe your project in detail as outlined below.  An accepted or published paper in a peer reviewed journal will satisfy the paper requirement, regardless of page limit, number of references, or authorship order.  An unpublished paper will be 10 to 25 pages in length, depending on your thematic area. Projects that use a critical analysis methodology (like in the Humanities) may be longer.  Draft and final paper will be double spaced, typed in 12 pt Arial font and have 1 inch margins.  Most papers will include the following components: cover page (title of paper, your name, mentor’s name – Please make a cover page even if you are submitting a peer-reviewed published paper), abstract, introduction, methods, results, limitations, conclusions, references (minimum of 20), and acknowledgements. If you are not the first author of the published paper or your project included work by another student, you must include a brief statement in which you explain your contribution to the project. The abstract should be an approximately 250 word summary of your paper that includes the 1) title 2) background and objectives 3) methodology 4) results and 5) conclusions.    

For Contributorship: according to the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), authorship credit should be based on the following 4 criteria:

• substantial contributions to conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; and
• drafting of the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
• final approval of the version to be published; and
• agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals.

Final Project:

• Paper summary - 10-25 pages depending on thematic area or a paper published in a peer reviewed journal.
• Poster - For most projects, the poster will summarize the paper. For projects on the Arts, the poster will include a brief description on the project dates and location of presentation.
• Presentation - For most projects, the presentation is of the poster, including a brief project summary and Q & A. For projects on the Arts, the presentation could be an exhibit or performance with a summary and Q & A.

Phase IV Research Electives

Main Content: IDPT 8091 and IDPT 8093 are each 4 week elective courses Phase IV students can take any month throughout their 4th year. These courses are intended to be a time to focus on completing the draft/final paper or prepare for the Capstone presentation. 

• Students work intensively with mentors on their chosen MSA Project. 
• Students critically review background literature, define a question/hypothesis, develop and implement methods and study design, collect data, analyze and interpret data, and submit written progress reports for their MSA Project.

How to sign up for an elective

• Register for the elective through Oasis. 
• Both electives do require director approval, so you will be placed on a waitlist initially until your form has been reviewed. 
• IDPT 8091 is a pre-requisite for IDPT 8093, so you will not be able to register for IDPT 8093 until you have been added to IDPT 8091.
• You also must contact your mentor about enrolling in the elective and upload the mentor approval (an email with the section dates is sufficient) within Oasis using the form for the course.
  

• Act as a role model for your students in their scholarly pursuit 
• Be open and adaptable to discuss alternative projects that may be more feasible 
• Outline possible projects with students who have an area of interest, but no specific project idea 
• Be available to your student and provide appropriate supervision for the project with the aim of having your student complete a significant body of scholarly work 
• Involve your student in opportunities that relate to the student’s area of interest 
• Provide a summative evaluation of your student’s performance at the end of Phase II and completion of the capstone presentation 
• Don't let students procrastinate or avoid decisions 
• Don't let students rely on you to do all the work and planning 
• Identify, document and communicate lack of satisfactory progress 
  Provide feedback to the Director and Associate Directors on your experience as a mentor 
• If you have not had experience as a mentor, contact the MSA Associate Director in your thematic area for assistance 
• Participate in workshops and seminars regarding mentoring and MSA projects 
• Understand student timelines and negotiate schedule 
• Make sure the project is feasible
• Give credit to students 
• You don’t have to have all the answers. If you have any questions, please contact an associate director.
  

 

Each year the MSA Director and Associate Directors highlight and acknowledge outstanding mentors who are nominated by their mentees. Below is are a few of our amazing faculty who have won recent Mentor of the Year awards and have shared their experiences mentoring CU School of Medicine students. 

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Robert Meguid: Awarded the 2021 MSA Mentor of the Year Award.
Rob has been mentoring students for 9 years at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. While he has formally mentored 6 students through the MSA program, he has mentored numerous surgical residents in research and clinically. Mentees have gone on to present their research at national surgical meetings and publish in surgical journals. Their research has made significant contributions to the Department of Surgery’s Surgical Outcomes and Applied Research program.

YouTube Video

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Daewon Park: Awarded the 2021 MSA Mentor of the Year Award.

YouTube Video

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Janet Meredith: Awarded the 2020 MSA Mentor of the Year Award.
Janet has been mentoring students for 10 years, and has mentored more than 135 students holding an active mentorship of 75 students per year. Notable projects Janet and her students have contributed to include: CSTAHR (Community and students together against healthcare racism) an ongoing project for 20 years; AIMM (addressing infant and maternal mortality) active for 5 years, among many more. 

YouTube Video

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Bethany Kwan: Awarded the 2019 MSA Mentor of the Year Award.

YouTube Video