Scholarly Concentration Program (SCP)

1. Complement and enhance the required curriculum
2. Provide role models, mentorship, and guidance for students’ academic and personal development
3. Increase interdisciplinary interactions
4. Provide a longitudinal educational experience through structured and experiential learning activities
5. Support student scholarship

The educational goals of the Scholarly Concentrations are for students to:

1. Acquire expertise in an interdisciplinary, health-related area
2. Develop critical thinking and analytical skills
3. Improve oral and written communication skills
4. Enhance self-directed learning skills
5. Produce a scholarly product

Students participating in a Scholarly Concentration will engage in an independent, scholarly project guided by a faculty mentor. Examples of possible scholarly projects include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Development of a new clinical protocol
• Original basic or clinical research
• Development of a new curriculum component or module
• Evaluation of an outreach program
• Creation of a bioengineering tool or biomedical software
• Creative medical writing

Students who successfully fulfill the concentration requirements will receive a certificate of completion and will be recognized at commencement.

Application Process

Interested students should:

1. Review the concentration areas and select the one of interest.
2. Complete the online application*

* First-year medical students are eligible to apply in January upon successful completion of their first semester of work. Students will be notified of their application status by the director of the concentration. Acceptance in a concentration will be determined by the Concentration Director based on the student application, specific concentration requirements, and the number of positions available.

Student Research Elective

Third-year medical students interested in SCHO 3030 Elective/Student Research Elective should receive a lotto from OASA before applying to the online Student Research Elective Worksheet.  

Note:  Projects that focus on literature reviews and case reports are inappropriate for the research elective module. These activities support research but are not research in isolation and will not be approved.

Submit your completed worksheet for approval at least 30 days in advance before your actual start date.
You are not assured the elective until the Worksheet is approved, multi-step process.
For additional question, refer to this site and expand the “Third Year/Student Research Elective” option to see full instructions or contact [email protected]

Evaluation Form for third year medical students:
Upon completing your elective, your mentor will need to complete your evaluation within the next seven days.  These comments will be sent to Student Affairs for inclusion in the MSPE and a grade will go in your file only when the MSRO received your completed evaluation form from your mentor.

Concentration Areas

Detailed Description of Scholarly Concentration Areas

• Advocacy and Child Health
• Behavioral Science and Substance Use Disorders
• Biomedical Informatics (SBMI)*
• Clinical Quality Safety and Evidence Based Medicine*
• Emergency Preparedness and Response 
• Geriatric and Palliative Medicine
• Global Health
• Latin American Health and Language (NEW)
• Lifestyle Medicine (NEW)
• Medical Education
• Medical Humanities
• Molecular and Translational Medicine* 
• Nanomedicine and BioMedical Engineering (nBME)*
• Neurosciences*
• Primary Care/Family Medicine
• Trauma* 
• Women’s Health

* Concentration requirement to enroll in Summer Research Program.  SRP mentor and project must be approved by the Concentration Director(s).

Reach out to this list of Scholarly Concentration directors for additional inquiries.

Program Timeline (example)

MS-1 Spring

In January, students will have the opportunity to apply to a scholarly Concentration of their interest. Once students have selected and have been accepted into a concentration, they will have the opportunity to select a faculty mentor, identify a scholarly project, and explore funding opportunities.

MS-1 Summer

In the Summer after the first year, students will engage in concentration activities as required. Students may also be eligible to participate in the Summer Research Program where they can focus on their scholarly project (10 weeks).

MS-2-3 Years

Students will continue to participate in their respective concentration activities including attending courses/seminars, completing experiential requirements, and continuing their scholarly projects.

Program Participation

The UTHealth Scholarly Concentration Program is a voluntary experience for current medical students. Students applying to a Scholarly Concentration must be in good academic standing as determined by the Students Evaluation and Promotion Committee. Students must maintain good academic standing in order to continue with their selected concentration.

Contact Us

For Comments or suggestions, please contact us at [email protected]