Table 1.

Program curriculum.

Session topic	Learning Objectives	Session Components
What is clinical and translational research?	Define “translational research.” Distinguish translational research from basic and clinical research.	Guest speaker on the definition of translational research Student-led discussion of recent translational paper produced with support from the University of Cincinnati’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)
Study design	Understand basic tenets of good study design.	Student-led analysis of the design of a widely criticized, retracted paper Clinician-supported discussion on how reading the paper before its retraction might have modified students’ clinical practices
Peer review	Understand the process of peer review. Define “impact factor.” Know how to determine a journal’s impact factor.	Individual student mock peer review of a de-identified paper Student-led discussion on the paper’s validity and significance, with later revelation to students that the paper had been retracted for methodological inconsistencies
Patient and recruitment bias	Discuss how recruitment bias may influence the results of a study.	Student-led discussion of a clinical paper whose comorbidity exclusion criteria lead to a study population significantly different than the actual patient population Clinician perspective on how this difference impacts the translation of research literature into their own clinical practice
Placebos and placebo effects	Understand the purpose of placebo controls. Discuss ethical considerations associated with placebo controls.	Student-led discussion of ethical issues surrounding placebo use in clinical trials and practice Student-led discussion on how “real” the placebo effect is and its impact on clinical practice
Clinical vs. statistical significance	Understand what it means for a result to be “statistically significant.” Distinguish statistical, biological, and clinical significance.	Student-led detailed analysis breaking down the statistics in a major clinical trial Statistician perspective on the utility of the “p<0,05” significance standard and what factors affect p values
Conflict of Interest (COI)	Clearly define “conflict of interest.” Discuss how conflict of interest may influence study design or interpretation.	Student review of a groundbreaking clinical trial discredited due to undisclosed author COI, with later revelation to students that the study’s results were recently replicated Student-led discussion of ethics issues surrounding COI and its impact on the delay or inappropriate adoption of new therapeutics
Cost effectiveness	Understand how the cost-effectiveness of a treatment or intervention is evaluated.	Student analysis of a cost-effectiveness study on cancer screening methods Student-led discussion on the clinical purpose of screening and the ethical issues surrounding cost-effectiveness as a metric for test utility
Literature Wars	Be able to evaluate the quality of a scientific paper. Be able to discuss a scientific paper with colleagues.	Student-led comparison of two multi-center trials, with different conclusions, of tPA treatment for patients with acute ischemic stroke Health sciences librarian perspective on literature search methods
Real World Validity	Clearly distinguish internal and external validity.	Evaluation of effectiveness and efficacy studies of the rotavirus vaccine Clinician-researcher perspective on how efficacy/effectiveness studies affect clinician adoption of vaccine recommendations