We highly recommend you complete this UP requirement before starting clinical rotations. It is important to get started early on this, as your clinical years leave little time for completion of a research project.
Note for E-19 and E-20 students: this requirement was waived for you. If you completed an underserved-focus scholarly project anyway, your UP graduation certificate will include “with scholarship.”
If you complete your Independent Investigative Inquiry (III) project within the context of RUOP, GHIP, or the UW Medical Student Addiction Research (MedStAR) training program, no pre-approval of your project by the UP team is necessary. The majority of UP scholars fulfill this requirement in this way.
However, if you do not complete your III through RUOP, GHIP, or MedStAR, the UP team must pre-approve your underserved-focus scholarly project for UP credit. The project should directly relate to underserved population(s) and/or the root causes of health disparities.
Alternative project ideas are listed below. Before starting your project, submit your detailed proposal using your UP Tracker for pre-approval (see relevant deadlines here — they’re earlier than you might think!).
Your proposal should include the following:
1. Your research question
2. Why your research question is important
3. Which marginalized or under-resourced population(s) your research involves or affects and/or which root causes of health disparities your research will explore
4. How you will try to answer the research question
5. If you have a research mentor (faculty or otherwise), who is it? If you are working with a community partner, which one?
6. What your specific role in the project will be
7. What the final product of your project will be (paper, poster, or presentation)
8. If applicable (related to health equity advocacy projects described below):
– Evidence that you are working to fulfill an unmet need
– Plans to evaluate efficacy of your project
– Plans to help your project live on after you’ve left your Foundations campus
Final papers submitted for this requirement are of high academic quality: they are organized and well-edited and show adequate research to provide background information and support arguments. References are appropriately cited. Most papers include the usual research paper sections (Background, Methods, Results, Discussion).
The UP Team is here to support you. We would love to help you brainstorm and connect you with folks across WWAMI. Reach out at upath@uw.edu.
Alternative project ideas:
1 – Write a 5-7 page paper that explores the health disparities impacts of your III research. If you name any possible solutions, the solutions are research-based, specific, and feasible for the community. Contextual support (finances/cost, infrastructure, staffing/employment) that would be needed are discussed.
2 – Develop a health equity advocacy project in conjunction with a community partner and write an adjacent paper. The paper should include evidence that demonstrates a need for the project.
- Some examples of past UP health equity scholarly projects (all were submitted with an accompanying paper):
- Development of harm reduction kit and its distribution at local hospital
- Work with community clinic to determine new location based on patient needs surveys and accompanying write-up
- Translations of health education materials for community organization
- Adaptations of pre-med curriculum (Med for Ed) for indigenous school classroom to encourage students underrepresented in medicine to go into health professions
- Development of harm reduction kit and its distribution at local hospital
- Our always-growing list of community organizations throughout WWAMI that you might consider reaching out to and working with.
3 – Complete a thorough literature review of a topic of your choice: here’s an excellent example of one student’s lit review.
4 – Participate in existing UW research. For example, you may find an opportunity within the Family Medicine research section. Other departments may also have opportunities for student involvement in research.
5 – Other: do you have another idea for scholarly research related to under-resourced and marginalized people? Have you already done scholarly research in medical school that you believe fits the criteria? Let’s talk about how to explore your health equity curiosities through research and how we can help you. Reach out to upath@uw.edu as soon as possible to set up a time to discuss your ideas.
Note: If the School of Medicine waived your III requirement upon entry to medical school, get in touch with Underserved Pathway Program Manager upath@uw.edu to discuss fulfillment of this requirement.