The CAPD Clinical Research Externship (CRE) is a 6-week experiential learning opportunity designed to help undergraduates explore the career path of a physician that conducts clinical research. Participants will spend 10-hrs per week acquiring career-building connections with physicians and researchers at local Boston area hospitals while learning about the important role physicians and clinical research play in advancing medical knowledge and improving patient outcomes. The program is best suited for undergraduates pursuing a career as a physician (MD) or physician-scientist (MD-PhD).
In the summer of 2023, the Clinical Research Externship participants were hosted by physicians in the Gastroenterology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care at Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH).
Click here to view the physicians participating in the 2024 Clinical Research Externship.
If you have any questions on the Clinical Research Externship, email Akunna Rosser at arosser@mit.edu.
Through the Clinical Research Externship, selected participants will:
- Spend up to 6 weeks under the guidance of a physician mentor at a local Boston hospital. Each participant will commit up to 10-hrs per week. The 10-hrs can be consistent through the entire 6-week experience or vary week-to-week.
- Receive a stipend up to $2000 to offset any costs associated with participating in the program. The duration of the externship impacts the amount of funding received and is determined by each participant and their physician mentor.
- Engage in small-scale projects meant to expose each student to the process of conducting clinical research. This may include data collection, entry, and/or management, literature reviews, participant recruitment, statistical analysis, and other relevant short-term projects
- Observe physicians in their clinical setting and their interactions with patients.
- Develop meaningful connections with a physician mentor through 1-1 check-ins while also meeting with lab members and research collaborators.
- Become better equipped to confirm an interest a Medical Degree (MD) or combined MD/PhD.
- Acquire a valuable learning opportunity meant to assist one in exploring a career in medicine.
Timeline:
- Each externship will be up to 6 weeks and participants will commit up to 10 hours per week. *Keep in mind, the CRE is not a full-time experience nor an opportunity to conduct a research project and is instead an opportunity for students to gain exposure to the career of a physician that conducts clinical research. The CRE is ideal for students that have an additional free 10 hours a week to contribute to this experience. The CRE is meant to supplement another experience you are already engaging in since the externship is only 10 hours per week.
Eligibility:
- Must be a current MIT student
- Preference given to rising juniors and seniors
- A current MIT Prehealth student; please email prehealth@mit.edu if you are not
Application Requirements:
- Resume
- Responses to short answer essay questions
- Government Issued ID
- Visa Information (if applicable)
Required Health Forms (submitted upon being accepted):
- Vaccination & Immunization Records/History (provided by MIT Health)
- COVID Vaccine Documentation with Pfizer or Moderna Booster Shot
- Flu Vaccine Documentation
- TB Test within 3 months of start date (only for specific hospitals participating; applicants will be notified if required to submit)
For the summer of 2024, participants will be paired with one of the physicians below:
Dr. Josh Aronson, MD | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) – Dr. Aronson (MIT ’04, HST MD ‘08) is a neurosurgeon and Director of Epilepsy Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. His lab focuses on mechanisms of learning and memory in human subjects. Dr. Aronson also attended MIT as an undergrad majoring in Course 7.
Dr. Braden Kuo, MD, MSc | Massachusetts General Hospital – Dr. Kuo, MD, MSc is a neurogastroenterologist and the director of the Center for Neurointestinal Health at Mass General and also an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kuo specializes in disorders of gastrointestinal motility and neurogastroenterology and clinical practice is devoted to treating patients with gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders and disorders of brain-gut interaction.
Dr. Marilyn Liang, MD | Boston Children’s Hospital – Dr. Liang is a dermatologist and Co-Director of the Vascular Anomalies Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also an associate professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Liang conducts laser procedures to address a variety of vascular anomalies including Sturge-Weber Syndrome, Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), and other birthmark types and syndromes.
Dr. Jamie Sparling, MD | Massachusetts General Hospital – Dr. Sparling is an anesthesiologist and intensivist at Massachusetts General Hospital within the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, & Pain Medicine. Dr. Sparling also attended MIT and majored in Course 10, Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Jerry Zhu, MD-PhD | Brigham & Women’s Hospital (BWH) – Dr. Zhu is a gastroenterologist at BWH and leads a laboratory with long term interests in understanding the mechanisms that control cell proliferation and differentiation during early vertebrate embryogenesis and its clinical implications. Most recently, the laboratory’s work has led to a novel venue to revert immune suppression at tumor microenvironment, the central obstacle of cancer immunotherapy. This is also Dr. Zhu’s second year participating in the MIT Clinical Research Externship!
If you are a physician interested in hosting a student, please email Akunna Rosser, Senior Assistant Director for Prehealth Advising, at arosser@.mit.edu.
Experience Information
- Sponsor
- MIT Prehealth Advising
- Start Date
- Jun 4, 2024
- End Date
- Aug 23, 2024
- Decision Date
- Apr 12, 2024