Office of Educational Programs

The UTHealth Scholarly Concentration Program is designed to enrich the student experience through learning and scholarly activities specific to an interdisciplinary health-related topic.

The program goals for the Scholarly Concentrations are to:

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.

Concentration Areas

Detailed Description of Scholarly Concentration Areas:

• Advocacy and Child Health
• Behavioral Science and Substance Use Disorders
• Biomedical Informatics (SBMI)*
• Clinical Quality, Safety, & Evidence-Based Medicine
• Emergency Preparedness and Response
• Family Medicine/Primary Care
• Geriatric and Palliative Medicine
• Global Health (Application deadline is March 22, 2022)
• Medical Education
• Medical Humanities 
• Molecular and Translational Medicine*
• Nanomedicine and BioMedical Engineering (nBME)*
• Neurosciences*
• Trauma*
• Women’s Health 

* Concentration requirement to enroll in Summer Research Program.  SRP mentor 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, and identify a scholarly project.

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.

MS-4 Year

Students will complete concentration requirements including their scholarly project.

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.

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Website updated as of 3/25/2022