Components

Masters of Science Degree

All fellows are students of the Boston University School of Public Health and pursue either the Masters of Science in Epidemiology or the Masters of Science in Health Services.

Masters of Science in Epidemiology – 32 Credits (8 Courses)

Required courses

• Intermediate Biostatistics
• Epidemiologic Methods or Epidemiology
• Intermediate Epidemiology
• Introduction to Statistical Computing

Two approved electives (8 credits) Choose two from the following

• Survey Methods in Public Health
• Clinical Epidemiology
• Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials
• Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials
• Statistical Methods for Epidemiology
• Modern Epidemiology
• Health Services Research Methods

Thesis

Epidemiologic paper meeting standards of publication in refereed journals
Processing and analysis of data
Encouraged but not required to conduct original data collection

Masters of Science in Health Services – 31 Credits

Consists of 23-24 credits in core courses and 8 elective credits.

Core Courses

Contemporary Theoretical & Empirical Issues in Health Services
Epidemiological Methods OR Intermediate Epidemiology
Biostatistics
Health Services Research Methods
Advanced Health Services Research Methods
Health Illness and the Use of Health Services
Health Economics for Health Services Research

CREST Fellowship (Clinical REsearch Training Fellowship)

Academic fellows in the Department of Family Medicine are eligible to become CREST fellows. The CREST program, funded by a National Institutes of Health K30 award to BU, was created to address a critical national shortage in the number of clinical investigators in the United States. CREST, through lectures and presentations that occur every other Tuesday at noon, brings together faculty and fellows throughout Boston University, including its schools of medicine, dentistry and public health, the Boston Medical Center, the Sargent College of Allied Health Professions, and in a broad range of University departments. Sample topics include: Outcome Measures in Rehabilitation, Informed Consent and Withdrawal of Consent, Ownership of Research, Clinical Genetic Research, and research-in-progress presentations by the CREST fellows. For more information, please visit the CREST website.

Thursday Afternoon Fellow Seminar

Beginning in September and continuing on each Thursday afternoon from 2:30 to 4:00, fellows from family medicine and primary care internal medicine attend a joint seminar that is an important component of the fellowship and that has been rated highly by our past fellows. The seminar is organized as follows:

Academic Seminar

The first Thursday of the month is reserved for the Academic Seminar. Fellowship faculty, including Family Medicine faculty, present seminars on topics such as:

• Academic Life and Jobs after Fellowship
• Preparing Your CV
• The Research Process from A to Z
• Grantsmanship
• Effective Literature Searches
• Preparing an Abstract
• Making an Effective Presentation Writing Effectively
• Preparing a Poster Session
• Networking and How to Attend a National Meeting

Fellows Report

The third Thursday of each month is reserved for fellows’ presentations about their research projects. During each Fellows Report, four fellows present to the group for approximately 15-20 minutes and then receive constructive feedback from their peers and faculty. Each fellow presents three to four times a year in this excellent opportunity to refine both research design and presentation techniques.

Teaching Seminar

The second and fourth Thursdays are reserved for a teaching seminar that is focused on learning and practicing a variety of effective teaching techniques for adult learning.

Research Target Meetings

On the first Tuesday of the month, from 1:15 to 2:30, fellows join the Family Medicine Fellowship Co-Directors for a TARGET meeting designed specifically around their own research projects. The focus of TARGET is to assist the fellows in time management, review research goals, aims and short-term objectives, plan research activities, review research progress, and troubleshoot impediments to progress.

Family Medicine Research in Progress Seminar (RIP)

On the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month, from 1:15 to 2:30, faculty, fellows, research assistants and collaborating faculty participate in a seminar designed to catalyze the Department’s research activities. Faculty present ongoing research to provide model examples of developing a research question and clear aims and hypotheses, grant writing, and research design, project implementation and protection of human subjects issues. Fellows present twice a year to inform the research faculty about their work; this seminar presents an invaluable opportunity for fellows to receive a supportive and constructive appraisal of their research project progression.

Mentor Meetings

On the third Tuesday of the month, from 1:15 to 2:30, fellows meet with their Department career Mentor for overall program and career planning.

Research Methods and Medical Literature (EB 915)

EB 915 is a BUSPH course scheduled each Thursday noon during the academic year. The course functions in a journal club format that provides fellows with a rigorous approach toward critical reading of the medical literature. Although not a requirement for the MSc degree, this course is highly rated by fellows and provided an opportunity to utilized skills learned in other components of the fellowship. We recommend that you register for this course.

Teaching Activities

Each fellow has one half-day per week allocated for direct teaching activities and has the opportunity to participate in all aspects of Department teaching. During their two years, fellows generally participate in the third year Family Medicine Clerkship (the highest rated clerkship in the medical school) and residency teaching, including precepting.

Clinical Activities

• Family Medicine Faculty Practice: one half-day session per week in the Ambulatory Care Center of the Harrison Pavilion of Boston Medical Center, a community health center, or another approved option
• Hospital rounding: two weeks per year (24 hour on-call during rounding), working with a seasoned family medicine hospitalist
• OB: optional. Fellows will be paid for each 12-hour shift they cover on labor and delivery