Through the fire

UCF medical students have an opportunity to gain experience and explore various venues of medical research before they even graduate.

UCF's medical program curriculum includes Focused Individualized Research Experiences, a four-year mandatory research project of the student's choice.

The Edyth Bush Foundation has donated $50,000 towards the FIRE projects. The foundation believes that the projects are a critical part of the medical school curriculum.

David A. Odahowski, president and CEO of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, believes this investment in the future doctors of our community is vital to the success of their individual programs.

The money provided by the foundation can be used toward lab supplies, publication costs, incentives for recruiting patients and travel. All College of Medicine expenditures must be scientifically justified as part of the student's research proposal and are subject to scientific and financial review, said Dr. Steven Ebert, associate professor at the College of Medicine's Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences and director of the FIRE Module.

FIRE allows medical students to concentrate on a specific topic they are interested in. Students are expected to complete a "preparation phase" and a "research phase" during the FIRE modules.

"The idea is that everyone comes to medical school wanting to explore certain passions, whether that is medical devices, improving surgical outcomes, international outreach, or improving disparities within our own healthcare system," second-year medical student Anika Mirick, said. "We keep these issues close to our hearts as we embark throughout the beginning of our medical careers."

Brittany Moscato, 24, is particularly excited about her FIRE project in which she will create a business plan for an on-campus free health clinic run by students. She plans to continue the project after graduation.

With fellow classmate, second-year Ashley Ferrara, Moscato has begun demographic research of Orange County health clinics to determine the needs of the people in the community.

"This will help us with the creation of our clinic as well as increase everyone's understanding of what student-run clinics across the country accomplish" said Moscato of the research surveys.

Moscato said her goal is to create a sustainable clinic that will help make the Orlando community healthier.

According to the College of Medicine website, in the first module, students identify a research mentor and are responsible for developing a proposal including their hypothesis or question, specific aims, and methods and procedures.

"Learning to overcome the uncertainty inherent in beginning an ambitious project has been just as valuable to me as the technical knowledge I've accumulated", said second year Lynn McGrath of his FIRE project.

 McGrath is working on evaluating the effectiveness of the helmets used by our military in protecting troops from traumatic brain injury during IED blasts.

These students will finish their second year of medical school this month and continue phase two of their modules next semester. The module ends in a  Research Day where both first and second year students present on their findings or study proposals.

"It has been a valuable learning experience in what it takes to lead your own research team, and I am fortunate to have this experience at such a young age," Mirick said.