Medical Research Scholars Program

The Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) bridges barriers between traditional predoctoral and medical training by providing you with both medically oriented coursework and a mentored clinical experience. The coursework provides a grounding in biomedicine, and the clinical experience enables you to interact with patients to learn firsthand about disease symptoms, treatment options, and the limitations of current therapies. This combination of medical knowledge and face-to-face interaction with patients and their doctors provides a new perspective and enhances the rigorous training you will receive in the BBS Program.

Upon completing the MRSP curriculum, you will be able to work much more closely with physicians and physician-scientists and will be able to perform clinically relevant basic research.

A grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute initially helped to launch the MRSP, and a Molecular Medicine Training Grant (T32GM100884) funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences now supports the program.

Only incoming BBS students are eligible to apply, and we admit 5 - 7 students per year into MRSP. We will invite you to apply after you accept Yale's offer of admission. If admitted, you will still remain in your BBS Track but will participate in the additional MRSP curriculum.

The MRSP curriculum (see table below) consists of four full semester courses that focus first on normal human physiology and organ-based cell biology, followed by human pathobiology and then an introduction to drug discovery, validation and clinical trials. You also take an intensive summer course in biostatistics. Some of these MRSP courses are open to all BBS students, at the discretion of the course directors.

The centerpiece of the MRSP is an additional two-year Mentored Clinical Experience course during years two and three of the program. This course integrates basic and clinical research while additionally granting you access to patients and patient settings. Exposure to patients and to the practice of medicine will enable you to work more confidently at the interface of research and medicine and facilitate future collaborations with clinical researchers. The Mentored Clinical Experience is open only to students formally enrolled as Medical Research Scholars.

Comprehensive descriptions of the above courses are available in Word by clicking here.

The MRSP co-Directors are Michael Caplan, M.D., Ph.D., George Lister, M.D., and Megan King, Ph.D. The administrative liaison for the MRSP is Bonnie Ellis, Associate Director for the BBS Program. The MRSP also has a core leadership team that includes the above individuals and Liza Konnikova, Ric Pierce, Craig Roy, John Alvaro, Karen Anderson, David Stern, Joe Craft, and Fred Gorelick.

The application deadline each year will be in mid-May. The MRP core leadership team will review your MRSP application, along with your original Application for Admission to the Yale Graduate School. They will make final selections based largely on your responses on the MRSP application as well as on your potential for managing the demands of the MRSP curriculum on top of your regular BBS requirements. If necessary, the selection committee may conduct interviews of applicants.

The next application deadline will be in May of 2023, and we will invite incoming BBS students to apply after April 15. Please direct questions related to the application process to Bonnie Ellis.

For questions related to the program and the curriculum, please contact John Alvaro.