Institutional Opportunities for Clinical Research Training

Duke Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP)

Medical Genetics Training Program

Mentored Clinical Research Scholar Program (MCRSP)

Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH)

The Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP) at Duke is funded by a K30 mechanism from the NHLBI. It has offered a formalized academic program in the quantitative and methodological techniques of clinical research to clinical fellows and other health professionals since 1986. In collaboration with the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center at NIH, this training program is currently offered to medical students, clinical fellows and other health professionals at NIH by means of interactive video-conferencing from Duke, supplemented by web-based instructional modules.

Current initiatives include a systematic expansion, implementation and evaluation of the CRTP distance learning initiative. Faculty development in the use of technology and the curriculum delivery systems used will be designed specifically for the subject matter in the curriculum and the unique needs of the distance learners participating in the program. The resulting curriculum model(s) will be exported to at least one additional site and findings regarding faculty development and curriculum delivery for training clinical researchers will be disseminated.

The Medical Genetics Training Program provides comprehensive training in medical genetics through clinical and laboratory rotations, didactic lectures, and research experiences at Duke University Medical Center. The resident experiences a variety of clinical and research opportunities for training. The resident has diagnostic, therapeutic, and counseling skills in a wide range of genetic disorders, upon completion of the residency. The clinical genetics residents spend 18 months of their two-year residency gaining clinical skills through outpatient and inpatient patient care and consultations. Outpatient clinic rotations occur primarily in the Medical Genetics Clinic, and the Medical Genetics Specialty clinics; other locations such as prenatal clinic, Hereditary Cancer clinic are also available. Rotations in the cytogenetics, molecular, and biochemical laboratories are integrated into the residency program.

Faculty in the Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, and the Duke University Program in Genetics provide didactic lectures. The program faculty is diverse in their specialty training and areas of research interests. The resident has the option of a third year for intensive research training. All specialties, (Clinical Genetics, Biochemical Genetics, Cytogenetics, Molecular Genetics, PhD Medical Genetics, Genetic Counseling), in Medical Genetics are represented so that the training received by the resident is comprehensive. The Division of Medical Genetics Fellowship Training Program is accredited by the American Board of Medical Genetics and the American College of Medical Genetics

The Mentored Clinical Research Scholar Program (MCRSP) is a K12 institutional training grant that provides a structured didactic and applied research curriculum to foster physician training in patient-oriented clinical research. Faculty members selected for their expertise, experience, and commitment to training provide oversight of the program and/or serve as research mentors. MCRSP participants include both post-doctoral candidates pursuing subspecialty or primary care training and junior faculty members. Trainee progress is monitored at regular and frequent intervals through formal and informal reviews of individual achievements.

To assess the overall success of the program, each trainee’s career path is followed in succeeding years and their collective achievements compared to those of previous years and of other similar programs. The MCRSP is distinguished by an able faculty, a cadre of talented and motivated trainees, and the exceptional infrastructure provided by the clinical research environment at Duke University Medical Center.

The Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) is another K12 institutional program that was established in 2002. The goals of the program are:

to contribute to improvement in women's health by providing training and experience in research methodology to new investigators interested in addressing important questions,
to foster innovative approaches to these questions by encouraging investigators to utilize the wide range of intellectual capital available through interdisciplinary training and collaboration,
to build the capacity of Duke and North Carolina Central University to provide leadership in women's health research, and
to serve as a model for broad-based interdisciplinary research training and collaboration for both universities.

The program provides didactic and practical training in the conduct of research in women's health for junior faculty across a broad spectrum of disciplines, focusing on 4 broad areas: Clinical Trials and Outcomes, Decision Making, Health Disparities, and Basic and Translational Research. It builds upon existing interdisciplinary faculty relationships to foster productive and innovative collaborations and is creating new interdisciplinary research relationships between Duke and NCCU faculty. It also provides additional mechanisms for the ongoing exchange of ideas, methods, and insights among the community of researchers at Duke interested in women's health as well as a mechanism for recruitment and career development of junior faculty committed to the long-term goals of the program.

Trainees in the program complete a minimum of two years of mentored research training, including weekly seminars on research methods and career development topics, experience in peer review and grant writing, and completion of at least one project working in conjunction with a senior faculty research mentor. Trainees are expected to complete and submit at least one application for independent research training by the end of their time in the program.