Our vision

Our vision is to inspire the values of professionalism, intellectual curiosity, humility, and teamwork in our medical students, empowering them to become leaders in the medical research community.

The Department of Medical Student Research at the Mason & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University is a team of experienced clinical researchers and support staff that aims to foster a culture of innovation and discovery among medical students by providing them with the necessary training, resources and support to pursue their research interests. We believe that every medical student has the potential to make a meaningful contribution to the field of medicine, and it is our responsibility to help them achieve their goals.

Two students in profile, one looking through a microscope
Closeup of test tubes under microscope

Our goal for faculty

We intend to facilitate the addition of medical students to faculty projects and offer ongoing support to both students and faculty throughout the entire research process.

We fully recognize that MSR cannot achieve those goals without the assistance of our dedicated faculty mentors and their continued research efforts. We also recognize the daily demands our busy faculty face. With that in mind MSR at the Mason & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University offers full support to any faculty member with a project involving medical students for the duration of that project; including supporting any and all scholarly outcomes in whatever fashion possible.

Faculty support offerings

Faculty support offerings

  • Identify medical student candidates through university media, specialty research groups or the MSR database.
  • Assistance with training, preparation and onboarding of medical students; including all university accounts needed and EMR access protocols.
  • Assistance with all phases of protocol development and IRB submission including templates for most common research project formats.
  • Provide required verification form for any IRB submission involving students.
  • Online database of faculty projects involving medical students and their scholarly outcomes (exportable for yearly reviews)
  • Provide access to statistical analysis expertise and unique statistical software platforms.
  • Generate and facilitate collaborative research opportunities with other ODU faculty outside of the Mason & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University.
  • Provide access to additional reference management platforms.
  • Generate interest and provide support for “Meet the Researcher” networking events throughout the year.

Helpful links

Helpful links