What is Clinical/Translational Research Anyway?

[NoSleepNoProblm]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey everyone-

I've been doing some looking into MD/MS programs, and notice that most, if not all, of the Masters degress are in something called "Clinical and Translational Research". My question is: what in the world is that?

I am aware that clinical research involves drugs trials and realies heavily on statistics, and that translational research seems to invovle taking research from the lab to the clinical setting.

But beyond this, I have no idea what the life of someone who is engaged in this kind of research is.
Does it fall in line with their specialty?
Is it in adjunct to clinical practice?

And most of all, what exactly is the research like?

Do I give a patient a pill and say, "Call me back in three days?" (probably offended everyone who does clinical research right there). Do you have any say or control over what your research is, or are you essentially testing somethign for someone else?

If anyone has any personal experiences to share, you would be my hero.

And speaking of MD/MS programs in Clinical/Translational Research, what are these programs like? Do they provide any research experience, or are they solely composed of methodology courses?

And finally, are there any MD/MS programs that offer a Masters in something besides Translational/Clinical Research? Such as in a specific discipline (immunology, perhpas???)

Wow, I think I'll take a breathe now. A big thanks to anyone who can give me some help!

NoSleepNoProblm

 

[Ombret]

Your understanding of this may be better than you think.

The line between clinical and translational research is not all that bright. Clinical research involves studies of diagnostic or therapeutic maneuvers, so drug trials would be a big part because many of our therapies are drugs, but in surgical fields you might find people doing studies that relate to surgical maneuvers (benefit of snipping one versus two carotids in whole brain transplant) or perioperative management. Open up JAMA and almost every paper will be a clinical trial or study.

Translational research is not all that different, but the flavor is that the modalities being studied are more directly lab-developed and often the researcher will have had a hand in developing it. Develop a mouse vaccine, see if it works, then develop a protocol to trial it in humans.

Clinical/translational researchers are almost always trained in the specialty that their research pertains to, almost by definition; but these studies are always collaborative. So as a pathologist I have helped with many translational studies being done by surgeons (they needed a pathologist to read slides as part of their studies).

Most clinical/translational researchers do have clinical duties; at places where I have worked, the faculty track for this type of researcher has had 50% clinical time. You will find a range of involvement; someone might be peripherally involved in a couple of studies and devote 10% of their effort to them; someone else might be in the lab 80% of the time and see patients almost exclusively in the context of their study. The flexibility is one thing people like about this career.

The MS programs in clinical/translational research usually ask you to take several classes in epidemiology, statistics, trial design, and protocol writing, write a mock grant, complete a small project, or (for translational) rotate through labs doing translational research. Most of the students will be at the postgraduate level (already have MD; probably either fellows or faculty members). Until you get to that point in your training you may not have the context to do this kind of research.

The thing you have to understand is that these clinical masters degrees (not sure what else to call them as a whole) are kind of having a moment right now. They are, by and large, a new phenomenon in the last 10 years and like every other trend, everyone wants one. I have a PhD, and my department chair was telling me that what I really need is an MS in clinical epidemiology. I don't doubt the value of these formal degree programs, but people have been doing this kind of research for decades without having extra letters tacked on to their name. They have just learned on the job. In the current environment, having MSCI/MSTR/MSCE/whatever gives you some credibility but it is not a sine qua non.

The other thing you are asking about is basically an MS in a basic science discipline; these definitely exist and are widespread. You take a couple of classes (maybe) and spend a year in a lab doing a small thesis project. I think MD/MS in basic science is a great way for people to get some basic lab skills and test the waters to see if you want to spend more time in the lab later in your training. At a minimum, spending a year in the lab will make you a more educated consumer of the papers you will read for the rest of your career.

 

[PfNO22]

.

 

[asteria]

hi,

i am a dentist from india and would like to pursue masters in clinical research.i am hopin that you could throw me some light in this field.

1.can you list me some good universities offering this course
2.your views on academic oriented research and pharmaceutical research(cro's)
3.job prospective as a CRA
4.Companies that enroll freshers
5.Do i need to hone my skills in calculus/anything?

eagerly waiting for your reply.

thanking you

 

[asteria]

Your understanding of this may be better than you think.

The line between clinical and translational research is not all that bright. Clinical research involves studies of diagnostic or therapeutic maneuvers, so drug trials would be a big part because many of our therapies are drugs, but in surgical fields you might find people doing studies that relate to surgical maneuvers (benefit of snipping one versus two carotids in whole brain transplant) or perioperative management. Open up JAMA and almost every paper will be a clinical trial or study.

Translational research is not all that different, but the flavor is that the modalities being studied are more directly lab-developed and often the researcher will have had a hand in developing it. Develop a mouse vaccine, see if it works, then develop a protocol to trial it in humans.

Clinical/translational researchers are almost always trained in the specialty that their research pertains to, almost by definition; but these studies are always collaborative. So as a pathologist I have helped with many translational studies being done by surgeons (they needed a pathologist to read slides as part of their studies).

Most clinical/translational researchers do have clinical duties; at places where I have worked, the faculty track for this type of researcher has had 50% clinical time. You will find a range of involvement; someone might be peripherally involved in a couple of studies and devote 10% of their effort to them; someone else might be in the lab 80% of the time and see patients almost exclusively in the context of their study. The flexibility is one thing people like about this career.

The MS programs in clinical/translational research usually ask you to take several classes in epidemiology, statistics, trial design, and protocol writing, write a mock grant, complete a small project, or (for translational) rotate through labs doing translational research. Most of the students will be at the postgraduate level (already have MD; probably either fellows or faculty members). Until you get to that point in your training you may not have the context to do this kind of research.

The thing you have to understand is that these clinical masters degrees (not sure what else to call them as a whole) are kind of having a moment right now. They are, by and large, a new phenomenon in the last 10 years and like every other trend, everyone wants one. I have a PhD, and my department chair was telling me that what I really need is an MS in clinical epidemiology. I don't doubt the value of these formal degree programs, but people have been doing this kind of research for decades without having extra letters tacked on to their name. They have just learned on the job. In the current environment, having MSCI/MSTR/MSCE/whatever gives you some credibility but it is not a sine qua non.

The other thing you are asking about is basically an MS in a basic science discipline; these definitely exist and are widespread. You take a couple of classes (maybe) and spend a year in a lab doing a small thesis project. I think MD/MS in basic science is a great way for people to get some basic lab skills and test the waters to see if you want to spend more time in the lab later in your training. At a minimum, spending a year in the lab will make you a more educated consumer of the papers you will read for the rest of your career.

hi,

i am a dentist from india and would like to pursue masters in clinical research.i am hopin that you could throw me some light in this field.

1.can you list me some good universities offering this course
2.your views on academic oriented research and pharmaceutical research(cro's)
3.job prospective as a CRA
4.Companies that enroll freshers
5.Do i need to hone my skills in calculus/anything?

eagerly waiting for your reply.

thanking you

 

[Everglore]

Well I am the same boat so here are my thoughts and additions to the OP .

I am an MD who also wants to work in Research . as CRA or pharmaceutical research like in industry but I don't know exactly what would be the best position for me in Industry ( I like research a lot so it s R and D and I also like the idea of project management , managing the sites , databases etc...)

So here is the feedback I got from the program coordinator of the MS of C and T . here is also the website for it

"The goal of our training program is to impart the skills and knowledge necessary to design your own studies, write your own grants, and become a physician-scientist, typically in an academic medicine setting (e.g., a grant-funded faculty member). You’ll see we have a Clinical Trials track that incorporates some classes from the College of Pharmacy. Our fall application deadline isn’t until July 15."

http://www.eh.uc.edu/Clinicalresearch/curriculum_focus.html


For asteria , I am an MD in the same boat , I want to know more about CRO , CRA and I am also interested in pharmaceutical research and Industry....

So if you knew anything related to your questions , please post here