The Alpert Medical School has introduced a scholarly concentrations program that will allow medical students to take electives and conduct research in an interdisciplinary field outside the conventional medical curriculum.
Part of the Med School's broad curricular redesign, the program is voluntary and is intended to promote creative scholarship in medical learning, said Philip Gruppuso, associate dean of medicine for medical education. It was first introduced for the class of 2010.
"The traditional medical curriculum does not have scope for creativity," he said. "These concentrations are analogous to what people would consider minors."
The program currently offers 12 concentration areas with topics including global health, aging, advocacy and activism, medical ethics and disaster relief.
Emily Rickards, manager of the program, said it is likely to grow in terms of both concentrations and number of students in coming years.
Gruppuso and Rickards said they expect between 20 and 30 students out of the 92 in the class of 2010 to enroll in the program this year.
The program requires students to undertake projects on campus, in local hospitals or abroad during the summer after their first year. Funding for the summer assistantships will come from the Summer Research Assistantship program and from "generous gifts and grants" received by the Med School for infrastructural changes and curriculum redesigns, Gruppuso said.
Some concentrations - such as aging and women's reproductive health, freedom, and rights - have outside funding, said Melissa Nothnagle '93, assistant professor of family medicine and co-director of the women's reproductive health, freedom and rights concentration.
The program allows students to work with experienced faculty on projects in specific areas of interest, Nothnagle said. "Rather than having to do everything on their own, students can network with faculty and other students to develop the skills needed to pursue advanced research in areas like advocacy," she said.
After spending four years in the concentration, students will then present their work in a form of their choosing.
"Students should produce something tangible, maybe in the form of a thesis. If they are interested in poetry, they can write poetry," Gruppuso said.
Students seem excited about the program.
Dan Schwarz MD'10, who is concentrating in global health, said he was "enticed" by the program when he heard about it last semester.
"I am very excited about furthering attempts to complement a bio-med education with more sociopolitical, humanistic aspects," Schwarz said. He said the program is a "big step forward" for Brown.
Natalie Nokoff '06 MD'10, a concentrator in medical humanities, said the program is a "nice way" for students to continue their undergraduate education. "I majored in gender studies, and plan to use the program as a continuation," she said.
