Purpose

The Distinction in Physician-Scientist Development(DIPSD) is a track that provides a small group of medical students with mentored research experiences that will enrich their medical school training.

Objective

The DIPSD experience is longitudinal and includes contact with mentors and research groups, development of research-oriented skills, and the completion of a research project in the third/fourth years.

Student Outcomes

Students will be required to complete a research paper on their original research. The paper should use the format of a manuscript that might be submitted for publication. The paper will be reviewed for approval by their mentor and track directors. The final paper will be submitted to ThinkIR, the university’s institutional repository for faculty, staff, and student research.  

Students are highly encouraged to present their work at local, regional, national, and international meetings or conferences, and to participate as co-authors on additional manuscripts. Students should submit their current curriculum vitae that lists their research presentations and publications as an appendix to their final research paper.  

Application Process

DIPSD is a new track and will accept applications from the class of 2028 in July 2025, and applications from the class of 2029 in January 2026. Applicants are evaluated and the track directors choose a select group to be interviewed. Finally, track directors select the top applicants to be new students for the DIPSD track.

Criteria for Selection

Selection into the DIPSD track is competitive.

Eligibility for DIPSD is guided by ULSOM Policy 4.8.

For the class of 2028, students are eligible to apply to DIPSD if they have successfully passed all M1 courses on the first attempt.

Beginning with the class of 2029, students are eligible if they have successfully passed first semester M1 courses on the first attempt with a 75% or greater average on high stakes assessments.  

Students applying to the DIPSD track are asked to submit:

• Brief application
• Personal statement in which you describe your experience in research and how you envisage research playing a role in your future career
• NIH-style research objectives statement

• Letter of support from a potential mentor

If selected for an interview, students are assessed on their insights into their own skills and interests as clinician scientists, their ability to articulate possible research ideas, and their insights regarding research and academic medicine in general.

Students should be able to formulate, develop, and pursue ideas for research with guidance of a mentor, but with a good deal of personal initiative and independent work. They should be responsible for managing their time for track, research, and academic activities, including meeting regularly with their mentor.

Directors

Maxwell Boakye, Professor of Neurosurgery

Kenneth Palmer, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology