The Neuroscience AOC will allow students to have a mixture of clinical and scholarly experiences in the neurosciences during their four-year attendance at UPSOM.  A faculty mentor will individually design these experiences for each student.  In addition to these individual experiences, there will be monthly meetings for all students participating in the program.  Students also will have the opportunity to attend conferences both locally and nationally.  Most importantly, this program will create a sense of “community” for our students interested in the neurosciences.  This “community of scholars” will allow students to network with peers, faculty, and individuals here and at other institutions.

Through the Neuroscience AOC, students will have the opportunity to participate in the long-term treatment of patients with disabling neurological and behavioral conditions.  The student’s clinical interest will form the impetus for a scholarly project that will expose students to quality research efforts.  Each student, under faculty supervision, will strive to meet the following goals.

A.  Clinical Experience:  

• Understand and participate in the long-term clinical treatment of a psychiatric, neurological, or addictive disorder as it would present in a variety of settings.

 B.  Scholarly Project:

• Understand the research methodologies used to produce the current state of knowledge in the neurosciences, and the role of collaboration in treatment and research (especially as it relates to translational research themes)

C.  Humanistic Qualities:  

• Understand the sociocultural aspects associated with mental illness and patients afflicted with neurological disease.

Activity	Student	Mentor
Planning	Identify mentor and area of focus within three months of entry into AOC
Mentoring	Meet regularly:  at least monthly in the period leading up to and during the research project, at least quarterly at other times
Contract	Completed in first year, revised at least annually thereafter, submitted to AOC director after completion and revisions
Hypothesis	Generate an independent hypothesis, and a way to test it, by the end of MS2	Assist with IRB approval
Research	Begin performing research by October of MS3 year
Presentation	Prepare a scholarly communication of your project by end of MS4
Clinical	Attend clinic, rounds, or other clinical experience on average for four hours per month	Precept (or designate) clinical experience 4hr/mo, discuss during mentoring sessions
Educational	Attend monthly AOC-specific sessions, as well as one additional educational event per month (to be recorded in the log)
Humanistic	Complete 2-page summary of project, case, or perspective by end of MS4
AOC Director	Meet at entry and annually to review contract, portfolio, and overall progress
Portfolio	Specifics TBA but will need to updated regularly to include evidence of progress/activity