VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

There are also a variety of student research opportunities sponsored by VCOM, including but not limited to summer elective research programs, community health research programs, international or global health research, and bench research with faculty. Student selection is competitive based on an application, student academic standing, and recommendation from participating faculty members. Students are selected by a special committee. Students in these programs are expected to produce a finished product, including a poster for a scientific meeting or a VCOM research conference, and earning authorship on a manuscript including their studies. These programs vary from year to year depending on the particular research focus and need for research product outcome. Students have a four-week research requirement in the fourth year. Students may also use one of the electives to participate in a research rotation during their fourth year. For these rotations, the student spends four weeks dedicated to a research project under the guidance of a faculty member or preceptor. Research rotations require approval from the Associate Dean for OMS IV and GME and the Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs and Research at each campus. Students wishing to engage in research activities must be in good academic standing. Students participating in research must be associated with a faculty mentor or sponsor with an established research program or the skills and ability to conduct a research program. This includes students who are interested in developing their own research program, or who wish to develop a publication or poster/abstract for presentation at a meeting or conference. Students must meet with the appropriate Associate Dean to discuss their research participation prior to identifying a mentor. Students will need approval from the Vice President for Research, as well as either the Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs and Research or the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs prior to beginning research, publishing any papers, presenting any posters or abstracts at meetings and/or conferences, or speaking at any meetings and/or conferences. Any research involving human subjects or human data must be submitted to the VCOM Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to any work beginning on the project. The VCOM IRB does not allow students to serve as Principal Investigator on human subject research; however, students may serve as Investigators or as co-Principal Investigators with a faculty member serving as the Principal Investigator. Students may also participate in research projects as co-Investigators. Students are expected to participate in any safety training or specific laboratory training needed for laboratory work. Students who will be working with animals or with human subjects are absolutely required to participate in the appropriate IACUC (for animals) or IRB (for human subjects) training and certification process for the work. Documentation of successful training will be kept on file in the faculty mentor’s laboratory and in the Research Administration Office. Students may be included in faculty member grants as laboratory workers or even as Investigators (if appropriate for the level of training and participation on the project). Any internal or extramural funding application involving students must have prior approval by the Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs and Research or the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. Students may not serve as Principal Investigators on any funded project. Students may not submit research protocols or other related documentation directly to the IRB. After the research plan and related documents have been developed and reviewed by the student’s mentor, it is the responsibility of the mentor to submit the appropriate documentation for the project to the IRB.

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