M3/M4 Course Offerings

2026-2027 M3/M4 Course Syllabi

Medical Education

COURSE NUMBER:

26928375

TITLE:

Phase 2 Research Specialty Elective
Student may work on an existing basic, clinical, or translational research project during the elective rotation under the direction of an established UCCOM or CCHMC faculty mentor.

PREREQUISITES:

The student may enroll in the course tentatively after which they must email the following to the course director and administrative support person (no later than 45 days out from the rotation start date): mentor's name, email, and NIH Biosketch (preferred) or CV.

The research project plan (to include project proposal, timeline for completing project with specific weekly milestones, and confirmation of completed Research 101 modules) must then be emailed to the course director and administrative support person at least 20 days, but preferably 45 days, prior to first day of elective. Course director will review research plan and approve final enrollment.

Requirements for final enrollment:

1.Mentor name, email, phone

2.Mentor NIH Biosketch (preferred) or CV (student is to obtain this directly from mentor; no downloads from websites will be accepted

3.Research project proposal (written by the student with items #3-5 submitted in one document), including brief background, aims/outcomes, research methods, and list of Research 101 modules completed to prepare proposal.

4.Research timeline by week for achieving project milestones and delineated schedule for the project justifying 80 or 160 hours of effort, depending on course credit requested.

5.The project plan should include the list of Research 101 modules the student completed to prepare their proposal and complete their project. Student may complete these modules during a Phase 1 summer experience or prior to Course Enrollment. Student must complete a minimum of 7 Research 101 modules, including Modules 1-4, plus three elective modules relevant to the student's research plan. The completed modules should be listed on the submitted research plan document. Students developing a new research project would most likely benefit from completing Modules 5-7 and 9-10. Students preparing a manuscript would most likely benefit from completing Modules 7-10. If a student has questions regarding which modules are most appropriate for their project, they are encouraged to contact the course director. A complete list of Research 101 Modules is available under Curricular Resources for this elective.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

COURSE YEAR:

CREDIT HOURS:

CREDIT WEEKS:

DOMESTIC VISITING:

INTERNATIONAL VISITING:

GRADED:

Pass/Fail

COURSE QUALIFICATIONS:

STATUS:

Full-Time
OFFERED AS FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME: NO
ALLOWS OVERLAP: NO

COURSE LENGTH:

This is a 2-week, Phase 2 (M3) research elective requiring 40 hours per week. Students may take this course up to two times, for a total of 4 weeks.

DIRECTOR:

Amy Thompson-RESIDENT, MD
thompay@ucmail.uc.edu
513-558-7651
MSB, 4410

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT PERSON:

Diana Mullenix
mullendc@ucmail.uc.edu
513-558-5395
CARE, E870

SITE(S):

UC Health Medical Center

MAX ENROLL:

999 MAX/YR: 999

ROTATIONS:

Rotation	Dates	Max

NOTE: If a rotation is offered in both 2 and 4 week slots, the max capacity is limited to the actual spots offered for the 4 weeks. (ie: the 2 week rotations listed share the max of the 4 week rotation)
PT Extended Electives will span the entire year, not just 4 weeks

WORKING HOURS:

Student is expected to participate in the research project for a minimum of 40 hours per week. Daily

REPORT 1^ST DAY:

Student should contact Research Faculty Mentor.

COMMENTS:

N/A

INSTRUCTION

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

Laboratory
Mentorship
Research

In this course, we may cover complex health issues that often intersect with personal beliefs, societal debate, and evolving science. You will likely encounter information or perspectives that differ from your own. As physicians-in-training, your responsibility is to listen with curiosity, engage with evidence, and communicate respectfully—just as we do in patient care. Syllabi and course materials will be grounded in evidence-based medicine, scientific principles and reflect areas of ongoing scientific inquiry. In courses addressing policy, ethics, or societal issues, materials will be structured to promote evidence-based learning while transparently acknowledging where evidence is evolving or there are multiple viewpoints that may impact patient care.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT POLICIES:

UCCOM strives to provide medical students with a learning environment that is conducive to their professional growth. All UCCOM and visiting medical students are encouraged to review the Student Handbook.

The Office of Student Affairs and Admissions is available to all UCCOM and visiting medical students to discuss any concerns/questions related to the learning environment. Please call 558-6796 to access faculty/staff that can assist you.

TEACHING:

100%	Research Faculty

FEEDBACK:

ASSESSMENT:

ASSESSMENT METHODS:
Research or Project Assessment

FINAL GRADE:

GRADE ASSIGNED BY:

OBJECTIVES

Curricular Resources :

Readings assigned by Research Faculty Mentor.

Research 101: Online Learning Modules by Dr. Jason Blackard (if not already completed prior to Phase 1 Summer research):

1.Getting started with Research 101

2.Introduction to research

3.Aligning expectations

4.Identifying a research mentor and a research project

5.Introduction to human subjects research and protections

6.Submitting an Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol at UC

7.Conducting a literature search

8.Effective writing for publication

9.Transparency, rigor, and reproducibility in research

10.Study design and data analysis basics

11.Presenting your research

12.Evaluating the literature and presenting a journal club

13.Race and racism in research and medicine

14.NIH grant basics

15.Introduction to team science

Knowledge/Skills:

Knowledge/Skills

To provide short term opportunities for research experiences in basic, clinical, translational and improvement science.

Instructional methods may include, but not be limited to the following:

Mentored research lab training

Techniques of data collection and management ·

Techniques for data analysis

Principals of manuscript development

Main Course Topics :

research, basic, translational, clinical

Procedures:

N/A

Remediation Plan:

Student is expected to participate in the research project for a minimum of 40 hours per week. Daily schedule and evening/weekend hours are project-dependent (40/hours per week), at the discretion of the research mentor.

SAMPLE WEEK

SCHEDULE NOTE:

ATTENDANCE AND ABSENCE POLICY

Session Attendance for M4 Students

Students may miss no more than two days of planned excused absences on a four week rotation without being required to make-up the work, at the discretion of the clerkship/elective/course director or his/her designee.
Non-AI Rotations - Per the Student Duty Hours Policy, an average of one day (24 hours) in every seven must be free of clinical responsibilities (including seminars, clinic, rounds, lectures) averaged over a four week period. These days off are assigned by the clerkship director to best align with the site schedule. Students may request to schedule 1 or more of these 4 days for planned absences that fall under 1 of the categories listed below for excused absences during non-AI rotations, in consultation with the course/elective director, who may or may not approve such planned absences.
AI Rotations - Per the Student Duty Hours Policy, an average of one day (24 hours) in every seven must be free of clinical responsibilities (including seminars, clinic, rounds, lectures) averaged over a four week period. These days off are assigned by the course director to best align with the site schedule. Students may request to schedule 1 or 2 of these days for planned absences that fall under 1 of the categories listed below for excused absences during AI rotations, in consultation with the course director, who may or may not approve such planned absences. Students must avoid scheduling Step 2 examinations during an Acting Internship.
Excused Absences - The following will be considered excused absences:
- Diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic health services (e.g. doctor appointments, physical therapy, counselling, etc).
- Personal illness, accident or a major catastrophic event
- Death or serious illness of immediate family members. Immediate family members, as defined by UC, are Grandparents, Brother, Sister, Brother-in law, Sister-in-law, Daughter-in-law, Son-in-law, Father, Mother, Mother-in-law, Father-in-law, Step-sister, Step-brother, Step-mother, Step-father, Spouse or domestic partner, Child, Grandchild, legal Guardian or other person who stands in place of parent (in Loco Parentis)
Whenever possible, planned absences should be requested a minimum of six weeks in advance of the start of the clerkship/elective/course in which the absence will occur; this enables the clerkship/course/elective to help plan for educational event scheduling (e.g. a known appointment could be scheduled around with enough notice and the student might not have any required coursework to make up). Absences requested less than 1 week prior to the planned absence may not be considered for a possible excused absence unless extenuating circumstances prevented the student from providing timely notification per the policy. Students should first submit their request for a planned absence to the clerkship/elective/course director using the online MSSF. All planned/excused absences for any reason should be documented on the MSSF.
The COM abides by the UC Religious Observance Policy that respects the religious diversity of its students by providing opportunities, where possible, for accommodation in cases where conflicts exist between students’ religious beliefs/practices and educational activities. In clinical settings, such accommodations must honor the primacy of a commitment to patient care and avoid unduly burdening faculty, staff and the general student population involved in the affected educational and/or patient care activity.
The following items are explained in detail in the Medical Student Handbook:
- Excused/unexcused/unplanned absence, religious holidays, jury duty, and make-up work

See Attendance and Absences Policy, Religious Observance Policy, Medical Student Handbook.