CURRICULUM

Medical students entering the CAMSTRR program will have an intensive and valuable research experience for eight weeks, enhanced by sixty-four hours of didactic research and scholarly activity experience. The program will take place during the last month of medical school year three and the first month of year four.

The curriculum will be taught by an interdisciplinary group of researchers and physicians that extends across departments of the medical and graduate schools.

The first component of CAMSTRR curriculum is sixty-four hours of general and CAM specific research methodology course work presented by research faculty. Course work is designed to provide students with fundamentals of responsible conduct of research, research protocol development, state of the art research techniques and critical data evaluation. This portion will constitute 40% of the student's final grade.

Secondly, CAMSTRR will provide a hands-on, hypothesis-driven research opportunity with a funded faculty member for the students. This portion is intended to expose students to contemporary research methods and the current challenges associated with CAM research. Students will also meet with each other to discuss research progress and experiences. This will also 40% of the student's grade.

The third and last component of CAMSTRR involves scholarly activity, specifically via the development of a poster presentation to be showcased at UNTHSC's annual Research Appreciation Day (RAD). The presentation will count for 20% of the student's grade.

All students accepted into the program will be required to complete an online course (CITI) on responsible research conduct. All UNTHSC faculty are required to complete this course. In addition, all CAMSTRR students will be required to complete a CITI online animal safety didactic. The CITI program is widely accepted and endorsed by many academic institutions. Both online courses will take a duration of seven to eleven hours to complete.

+ didactic summary

*DIDACTIC TOPIC*	*DIDACTIC CONTENT*	*DIDACTIC COMPETENCIES*
CAM Research Introduction	This didactic explores the history of CAM research, the seven categories of CAM therapies, public advertising and use of CAM therapies, the role of NCCAM in CAM research. A CAM knowledge pretest, review of CAMSTRR goals and CAMSTRR faculty introductions will take place during this didactic	Trainess will be able to differentiate CAM terminology, demonstrate the need for evidence based medicine, identify the goals of CAMSTRR programe
CAM Research Methodology	Covers evidence based research as it relates to CAM, common research designs in biomedical research, benefits and limitations of designs	Trainees will be able to critique study methods and be able to identify criteria of a sound study
Ethical Issues of CAM Research	Principles and practical aspects of CAM research involving human and animal subjects will be reviewed. A walking tour of the animal facility will be included. An IRB meeting will be attended	Trainees will be able to identify ethical issues associated with CAM research proposals
Searching the CAM Biomedical Literature	CAM biomedical data bases and literature sources will be identified	Trainees will be able find CAM data bases and conduct a literature review
Starting an Individual Research Project	Subject matter covered in this didactic includes research hypothesis development, reseach resources, the research team, project feasibility, collaborative efforts, research obstacles, time management.	Trainees will be able to develop a research hypothesis, judge project feasibility, identify potential pitfalls, and propose methods for avoiding project pitfalls
Data Collection and Management	Common data collection methodology, validity and reliability, introduction to various software packages, coding, common errors in data entry will be presented	Trainees will be able to create and use a data base
Simple Statistical Methods and Basic Epidemiology	Emphasizes simple statistical methods and experimental design, descriptive statistics, parametric and non-parametric methods of hypothesis testing including two-sample tests, analysis of variance, regression and correlation analyses, introduction to multivariate statistics. Fundamental elements of epidemiology, with relevant emphasis on clinical applications and evidence-based will be explored	Trainees will be able to conduct simple data computations and critique study results reported in the literature
Reporting and Presenting Data	Develops skills required for: submitting articles, preparing presentations and posters	Trainees will be able to identify key components of a journal article, write an abstract, prepare and present a poster
Developing Successful Grants	Briefly reviews types of grant applications including the PHS 398 and the SF 424, explores common grant components including goals and objectives, needs assessments, budget types, and peer review	Trainees will be able to name major CAM funding sources , develop feasible goals and objectives
Research Summary		Trainees will be able to make research project presentations, and will take a post-test