About BIO 491: Research Associates Program, Programs I & II

Instructor:         Dr. Ronny Otero, MD
                        Associate Research Director
                        Dept of Emergency Medicine
                        Henry Ford Hospital
                        Detroit, MI 48202
Email:               
Office Phone:   313-916-8877
Office Fax:       313-916-7437

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to clinical research and an excellent opportunity for first hand clinical exposure. Students will experience and conduct medical research within Henry Ford Hospital's Emergency Department, collecting and analyzing data with other research faculty in support of a number of ongoing studies and continuous quality improvement projects. Please see the course introduction for more information.

IMPORTANT:

1. This course meets on campus at Oakland University. All lectures will be held in SEB 337.
2. Do NOT enroll in this course for course credit if you can't make the scheduled class sessions! Students who enroll for course credit and don't attend the sessions will fail the course.
3. In addition to the time for class sessions, students must complete ten research shifts of their choice. These research shifts are held at Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) in Detroit. Directions from Oakland University to HFH can be found here.
4. Each research shift is six hours long, and its best to do one shift per week, if possible. Thus students should plan on spending 6+ hours per week on this course. Students are encouraged to do more shifts than are required, if interested.
5. There will be no make-up lectures.
6. The final exam date cannot be changed.
7. All students must attend orientation (the first day of class). Please note that the first lecture will take two hours, but all other lectures after that will only be one hour long (unless stated otherwise).
8. Lectures are held on Tuesdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM for Program I, and Tuesdays from 11:00 AM to 12:00 noon for Program II.

The Research Associates Program (RAP) started being offered at Oakland University in Fall Semester of 2005. Since then, the course has become more streamlined, but still has critical paperwork that the students must complete and stay on top of during the course. The application forms, schedule, and other information are on the left column, and a summary of how to enroll into the program can be found here.

Students should expect to make several trips to Henry Ford Hospital for orientation, health screening, etc. before the course begins. Note that there will be two orientation sessions, one for the actual RAP (which is the first session date in the schedule), and another for HFH volunteer orientation. Both of these orientations are mandatory. The HFH volunteer orientation will be organized through Volunteer Services when students submit their volunteer application (see the enrollment procedure for more details). You must complete your HFH volunteer orientation prior to any research shifts.

Note that your registration at HFH will be as a volunteer, which is independent of your registration in BIO 491.

Prospective students may want to read this article about the positive effects of participation in programs like the RAP on medical school admission rates. Also, a copy of Dr. Otero's original RAP presentation can be found here.

Currently, Damon Goldsmith is assisting Dr. Otero with this research program. Please feel free to email Mr. Goldsmith if you have any questions whatsoever about registration details, research shifts, general help, and more.

Assistant:          Damon Goldsmith
                        Henry Ford Hospital
                        2799 West Grand Boulevard
                        Dept of Emergency Medicine, CFP 268
                        Detroit, MI 48202
Email:              
Office Phone:   313-916-8877
Office Fax:       313-916-7437