Home » Research » Training Programs Home Director Intro Structure Timeline Med 1 & 2 Grad School Med 3 & 4 Funding Directors/Administrators Committees Research Training Programs Faculty By Name Faculty By Program Resources History Campus Resources Students Research Highlights Students by Name Students by Year Resources Alumni By Name By Degree By Year Publications Admissions Procedure Application Living in Madison Housing Dining Campus Tour City Current Events Seminar Symposium Retreat Contact Us Graduate Training Programs Students in the Medical Scientist Training Program may study under the direction of faculty advisers in many disciplines. Currently, there are more than 90 trainers from different Graduate Training Programs affiliated with the MSTP. However, MSTP students are not restricted to just these trainers. The research resources of the entire Madison campus are available to our students. Any faculty member of a PhD degree granting program or department in the biosciences has the potential to be a mentor of a MSTP student. Animal Sciences Biochemistry Biomedical Engineering Biomolecular Chemistry Biophysics Biostatistics Biotechnology Cancer Biology Cellular & Molecular Biology Chemistry Clinical Neuroengineering Training Program Comparitive Biomedical Sciences Computation and Informatics in Biology and Medicine Endocrinology-Reproductive Physiology Environmental Toxicology Genetics History of Medicine and Bioethics Medical Physics Microbiology Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology Molecular Biosciences Neuroscience Nutritional Sciences Pathology Physiology Population Health Sciences Choosing a Trainer and Graduate Program The 90 active faculty trainers listed below include those with current MSTP students in their research programs; those who mentored MSTP students in the last five years; directors of several of the major PhD training programs, who in addition to being trainers can help direct students to potential trainers; members of MSTP committees; and representative junior and senior faculty members nominated by chairs of departments or leaders of training programs. We emphasize to both students and graduate faculty that students are not restricted to this list of trainers and should consider other trainers who may suit their interests better. The process of bringing students and potential mentors together begins with student interviews. Prior to visiting the campus, candidates are queried about research interests and asked to peruse the list of active faculty on our website and lists of faculty in relevant graduate programs through the UW-Madison website in order to identify faculty members with whom they wish to interview. We arrange approximately six one-on-one interviews for each student. Some are with faculty suggested by the applicant, and others are with faculty picked by the director based on the student’s research interests. Students are generally thorough in their searches. Of 138 faculty members who interviewed one or more candidates for the class that will enter in 2005, 63 (46%) were active trainers and 75 (54%) were not on the list of active faculty (Appendix E). Three research rotations are required in the first three semesters of Medical School. These are generally done in the summer before the Med I year or between the Med I and Med II years. Upon accepting our offer, students are asked if they wish to rotate in the upcoming summer. Students electing to do that are put in contact with potential mentors, of whom at least one is likely to be a faculty member with whom the student had interviewed, and rotations are arranged. In the fall, students are queried again by the director or associate directors about research interests and given general advice about graduate faculty members who might be suitable mentors. One of the weekly meetings in the fall semester is devoted to discussions about graduate programs and how to choose a training mentor. Early in the second semester of the Med I year, each student meets individually with the director to discuss potential mentors and arrange rotations in the summer between Med I and Med II years. Prior to that meeting, the director contacts chairs and training program directors and collects a list of faculty not on our trainer roster whom these leaders think are particularly suitable mentors of MSTP students. Students are also referred as needed to one of the associate directors of the MSTP, leaders of graduate programs, or other senior faculty members for additional guidance about potential mentors. Throughout spring semester, the director meets informally with students or corresponds by email to insure that the students are making progress in identifying rotators with faculty members who are strong potential members. Rotations are four to six weeks in length. Both the student and potential trainer report to the director about how the rotation went. These comments are archived as email communications and discussed informally with students early in the fall of the Med II year so that the choice of a trainer can be made over several months. Students are encouraged to sit in on group research meetings, attend relevant seminars, and gather other information to help in their decision-making. If the trainer whom is picked by a student is not on the list of active MSTP trainers, the student and director nominate the trainer for active trainer status with the following documentation: NIH bibliographic sketch, information about current and former trainees, description of research program, current research funding, and information about human subjects, safety, and humane use of animals. A subcommittee of the steering committee reviews this information and decides on approval of trainer status. The trainer must be able to provide a supportive research environment that will allow the student to develop and complete an important research project and publish good papers. If there is a question, the director meets with the potential trainer and the trainer’s chair to insure that the circumstances are favorable for the student. For junior faculty trainers without a training record, the director and chair may ask that a senior faculty member familiar with the goals of the MSTP be included on the student’s thesis committee and serve as a co-mentor. Early in second semester of the Med II year, each student meets individually with the director to make the choice of a trainer and also of a graduate program. Most trainers are in two or more graduate programs, so the student can choose a program that is most compatible with future interests.