Summer Research & Clinical Assistantship (SRCA) Opportunities - 2009

Background & Goals: The Department of Family Medicine (DFM) invites you to join us this summer for a very enjoyable educational experience. Every year we have several faculty who are eager to have medical students come work with them on people-oriented, clinically relevant, hands-on research projects. (See Faculty Projects for 2009) Students have ample opportunities to see patients in a variety of settings (office, hospital, others), learn some important concepts and skills about research, and participate in social events with other faculty and students.

The SRCA is designed to pair UW medical students and UW-DFM faculty who have mutual interests in research. The goals of the program are:

1. Provide medical students with an early exposure to family medicine
2. Give students early exposure to clinical research and medicine in a variety of settings
3. Stimulate and support research by Wisconsin family physicians and DFM faculty.

Dates: May 26 through July 17, 2009 (*flexible). After working for two days with your faculty mentor, all student researchers will meet in Madison for two days of orientation, introductory seminars on family medicine research and socializing. In late June, students will reconvene one day in Madison for progress reports, additional seminars, one-on-one consultations on their projects, and other social events. On July 17, student researchers will give final presentations in Madison, debrief, and celebrate. Thus, you will have 34 full days available for research and clinical activities with your project faculty. Students may negotiate with their faculty mentors regarding vacation time in exchange for additional work during evenings, weekends, or before or after the official program. Additional work on presentations or publications after the summer will be uncompensated.

Stipends/Housing/Travel: Students will receive a $2500 stipend. Accommodations for seminars in Madison will be provided for participants doing their assistantships at other locations.

How to apply: All current first-year medical students will be informed about the SRCA via email. During the first week of March, these students will be invited to apply for assistantship positions. If spots remain available in April, students entering medical school in the fall will also be invited to participate. Student applicants will be asked to indicate which of the available projects they might find appealing. The names of student applicants and their preferences will be circulated among the faculty participants. Through an interview process, either in person or by phone, faculty and students will agree on matches for the summer. Since agreements between faculty and students may be made at any time, students who submit their applications early are more likely to have their choice of projects.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Jon Temte at:

Phone: (608) 263-3111
Fax: (608) 263-6663
E-mail: jon.temte@fammed.wisc.edu