A Research Laboratory Methods Course for Medical Subspecialty Residents

Objective: The teaching of basic sciences to medical residents remains an ongoing need. Recent advances in science such as the Human Genome Project reinforce the importance and clinical relevance of the basic sciences. Beyond the teaching of basic sciences, residents need to have some understanding of the research laboratory methods commonly used and their limitations. Residents in medical subspecialties hail from various backgrounds, and the majority have had no exposure to a research laboratory. The Research Laboratory Methods Course was designed to allow residents a hands-on opportunity to work in four basic science laboratories. The goal is to provide a unique experience in the laboratory without a long-term commitment to a research project. Residents will acquire hands-on knowledge of commonly used techniques and an understanding of the research being carried out in the laboratory. Issues related to limitations of the techniques, relevant controls, and interpretation of results and safety concerns will be discussed. Upon completion, residents will also be familiar with biotechnical manuals and databases for future reference. Description: A catalog of participating laboratories is compiled detailing the specific experimental objectives for each day of the weekly blocks. Each principal investigator is asked to commit to accepting a resident for one week, to be closely involved in the evaluation process, and to ensure that a technician is assigned to work with the resident. Principal investigators are members of the division; some are PhD scientists and some are clinician scientists. The subspecialty resident will attend the course, designed to include one week in each of the four different laboratories. The resident will be excused from normal daytime duties with the exception of the longitudinal clinic. An information package detailing objectives of the course, methods of evaluation, and where to report is provided. An information package is also provided to the principal investigator outlining his or her responsibilities and methods of evaluation. Discussion: This course has been successfully completed by four endocrinology training residents and will be provided to all our new training residents. In all but one of the weekly blocks, proposed experiments were successfully completed within the allotted times. The residents reported they did the majority of the work and felt well supervised, with no safety concerns. They appreciated the opportunity to meet staff in the division who are often considered inaccessible. Review of the evaluations did not identify any problems. The overall satisfaction level was very high, and the principal investigators involved were willing to continue participating in the future. The experience of attending four laboratories provided residents with a unique introduction to different techniques used in laboratory research. The residents reported that they enjoyed the structured curriculum and the opportunity to sample a number of techniques in different laboratories. The actual experimental protocols were easy to create and were based on techniques commonly used in molecular biology. This course could easily be implemented for subspecialty residents using the laboratories of researchers within the department.

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