Injecting a Little Scientist in Every Doctor

Holly Birdsall, M.D., Ph.D., believes all doctors can benefit from learning how to think like scientists through the help of the new Scholarly Project requirement at BCM.

How can we make medical students better doctors? At Baylor College of Medicine, one answer is to make sure each of its medical students learns to think a little bit like a scientist before he or she graduates.

"A physician must be able to do more than recall memorized facts," said Holly Birdsall, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Assistant Dean for Student Research Education. "Doctors also must be able to ask the right questions, analyze infor-mation, and make good decisions—much like scientists. To more specifically develop this ability, all BCM medical students will undertake a Scholarly Project during the course of their training."

The Scholarly Project is intended to foster skills in analytical thinking, rational decision making and problem solving. Although the projects can be conducted in a laboratory, students are free to pursue any topic that relates to medicine, including clinical studies, the humanities, health policy and ethics.

"Medical students are extremely creative," said Birdsall. "I want to keep the requirements very flexible, because I think our students will come up with wonderful ideas."

Each student's idea will be submitted as a written proposal during their second year for approval by a steering committee. The student will be matched with a faculty advisor, who will guide the student over the next 18 months to conduct the research. A final written report will be submitted for approval by the steering committee.

Why Your Doctor Should Have a Scientific Brain

Thinking like a scientist is increasingly important for doctors to be effective in treating patients. Medical discoveries are happening so rapidly, much of what medical students learn today will be obsolete in the coming years. Keeping current throughout their career will require doctors to read and analyze information about their field.

"Excellent physicians need to be problem solvers, able to use the ever expanding body of medical literature to effectively answer clinical and academic questions," said Elizabeth Nelson, M.D., Associate Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education at BCM. "The Scholarly Project allows the students to research a question of interest to them in a scholarly and rigorous way."

Analytical processes also play an even greater role for physicians as we enter an era where people's genes play a larger role in their care.

"As we move toward personalized medicine, fewer and fewer patients will fit into standard steps of treatments," said Peter G. Traber, M.D., President and CEO of Baylor College of Medicine. "The introduction of a Scholarly Project into our exceptional curriculum is important because doctors need to be able to recognize the individual aspects of a person's condition and to think critically in order to decide the best course of action for that specific patient."

"We want to train our medical students to think 'outside the box' when faced with medical issues different than what they were taught in medical school or have seen previously in the clinics," said Susan L. Hamilton, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, BCM Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and L.F. McCollum Chair in Molecular Physiology. "We also hope that the experiences provided by this program will lead many of our students to participate in clinical research, becoming contributors to tomorrow's medicine at the discovery stage, as well as at the patient treatment phase."

Bridging the Research-Care Gap

BCM leaders also hope that the new requirement will inspire more students to become clinician researchers. As medicine has become more complex, the need for this new breed of physician—ones that can translate laboratory discoveries to patient care—has never been greater; however, the supply has not kept pace with the demand.

"The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that a quarter of the 3,500 openings for clinician researchers in 2002-2004 were not filled," said Birdsall. "BCM and the Texas Medical Center are rich research environments, making them an ideal place for students to 'catch the scientific spark' during their formative years."

Many BCM medical students already take advantage of the vast scientific resources found here by participating in formal programs—such as the M.D./Ph.D. program, directed by Sharon Plon, M.D. Ph.D. the one-year Medical School Research Track, directed by Brendan Lee M.D. PhD, or by pursuing research projects that both interest them and help them in the next stage of their training.

"For competitive residencies, research experience and publications are a must," said Anisha Patel, a 2008 BCM graduate who worked on research projects with several BCM faculty and matched with her first choice of programs for her dermatology residency, which is considered extremely competitive. "Anyone who wants to do research has the opportunity at Baylor. There is always a project with which to get involved. The Scholarly Project requirement will help all BCM students, regardless of where they are applying for residency."

Society, however, is the ultimate beneficiary of the project. "Discovery of new knowledge through research and scholarly inquiry is essential to progress in improving human health," said Gil Gilbert, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Senior Associate Dean for Academics and Postdoctoral Research in the BCM Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. "I hope that our medical students will use this important skill to achieve that goal in their future careers."

Why Your Doctor Should Have a Scientific Brain

Bridging the Research-Care Gap

Features

Spotlight

Briefs

Development/Alumni

Volume 4, Issue 2, Summer 2008


	Injecting a Little Scientist in Every Doctor by Lori Baker Holly Birdsall, M.D., Ph.D., believes all doctors can benefit from learning how to think like scientists through the help of the new Scholarly Project requirement at BCM. How can we make medical students better doctors? At Baylor College of Medicine, one answer is to make sure each of its medical students learns to think a little bit like a scientist before he or she graduates. "A physician must be able to do more than recall memorized facts," said Holly Birdsall, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Assistant Dean for Student Research Education. "Doctors also must be able to ask the right questions, analyze infor-mation, and make good decisions—much like scientists. To more specifically develop this ability, all BCM medical students will undertake a Scholarly Project during the course of their training." The Scholarly Project is intended to foster skills in analytical thinking, rational decision making and problem solving. Although the projects can be conducted in a laboratory, students are free to pursue any topic that relates to medicine, including clinical studies, the humanities, health policy and ethics. "Medical students are extremely creative," said Birdsall. "I want to keep the requirements very flexible, because I think our students will come up with wonderful ideas." Each student's idea will be submitted as a written proposal during their second year for approval by a steering committee. The student will be matched with a faculty advisor, who will guide the student over the next 18 months to conduct the research. A final written report will be submitted for approval by the steering committee. Why Your Doctor Should Have a Scientific Brain Thinking like a scientist is increasingly important for doctors to be effective in treating patients. Medical discoveries are happening so rapidly, much of what medical students learn today will be obsolete in the coming years. Keeping current throughout their career will require doctors to read and analyze information about their field. "Excellent physicians need to be problem solvers, able to use the ever expanding body of medical literature to effectively answer clinical and academic questions," said Elizabeth Nelson, M.D., Associate Professor and Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education at BCM. "The Scholarly Project allows the students to research a question of interest to them in a scholarly and rigorous way." Analytical processes also play an even greater role for physicians as we enter an era where people's genes play a larger role in their care. "As we move toward personalized medicine, fewer and fewer patients will fit into standard steps of treatments," said Peter G. Traber, M.D., President and CEO of Baylor College of Medicine. "The introduction of a Scholarly Project into our exceptional curriculum is important because doctors need to be able to recognize the individual aspects of a person's condition and to think critically in order to decide the best course of action for that specific patient." "We want to train our medical students to think 'outside the box' when faced with medical issues different than what they were taught in medical school or have seen previously in the clinics," said Susan L. Hamilton, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, BCM Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and L.F. McCollum Chair in Molecular Physiology. "We also hope that the experiences provided by this program will lead many of our students to participate in clinical research, becoming contributors to tomorrow's medicine at the discovery stage, as well as at the patient treatment phase." Bridging the Research-Care Gap BCM leaders also hope that the new requirement will inspire more students to become clinician researchers. As medicine has become more complex, the need for this new breed of physician—ones that can translate laboratory discoveries to patient care—has never been greater; however, the supply has not kept pace with the demand. "The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that a quarter of the 3,500 openings for clinician researchers in 2002-2004 were not filled," said Birdsall. "BCM and the Texas Medical Center are rich research environments, making them an ideal place for students to 'catch the scientific spark' during their formative years." Many BCM medical students already take advantage of the vast scientific resources found here by participating in formal programs—such as the M.D./Ph.D. program, directed by Sharon Plon, M.D. Ph.D. the one-year Medical School Research Track, directed by Brendan Lee M.D. PhD, or by pursuing research projects that both interest them and help them in the next stage of their training. "For competitive residencies, research experience and publications are a must," said Anisha Patel, a 2008 BCM graduate who worked on research projects with several BCM faculty and matched with her first choice of programs for her dermatology residency, which is considered extremely competitive. "Anyone who wants to do research has the opportunity at Baylor. There is always a project with which to get involved. The Scholarly Project requirement will help all BCM students, regardless of where they are applying for residency." Society, however, is the ultimate beneficiary of the project. "Discovery of new knowledge through research and scholarly inquiry is essential to progress in improving human health," said Gil Gilbert, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Senior Associate Dean for Academics and Postdoctoral Research in the BCM Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. "I hope that our medical students will use this important skill to achieve that goal in their future careers."		Search all issues: Features Treatments on the Horizon: Chapter and Verse on a Brain Killer Keeping Teen Dads Involved Fellow Travelers: The Human Microbiome Project Explores how our Bodies Co-exist with 1 Trillion Foreign Cells Two Brains are Better than One Spotlight Science as a Way of Life DeBakey Takes the Gold Caring for Community at Home and Abroad Injecting a Little Scientist in Every Doctor Designing a Building in the Eyes of a Researcher Laser Treatments Best Left up to Doctors Briefs Falls in Elderly Indicate Illness Gut-wrenching Facts on Colic Findings may Increase Survival after Injuries Some Like it Hot! Structure of Receptor for Chili Pepper and Pain Revealed Beware of Drinking Margaritas in the Sun Beetle-Mania Development/Alumni BCM Family Participates in Fundraising Campaign BCM Alums take D.C. Fellowships Seed Funding Leads to Breakthroughs Father, Daughter Team up for Health Care Steps to Discovery and Innovation

	Volume 4, Issue 2, Summer 2008



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