The School of Dental Medicine is a nationally recognized center for dental research. Students who take advantage of research opportunities become far more knowledgeable of their profession regardless of whether or not they choose a career in dental research.
Participation in research:
- Encourages critical review and analysis of scientific design — skills crucial to the development of clinical competence in diagnosing and treating patients
- Provides insight into additional career alternatives; some participants have chosen to pursue careers in academic dentistry following their research
- Allows students to interact and work with faculty under more informal circumstances; many students work with a single faculty member on research in a specific area that extends over three or four years
- May lead to publication of research in scientific literature, as well as travel for presentation of data at national and international meetings
Identify and contact mentor (be persistent)
Write a research proposal with that individual
- Attain IACUC or IRB approval if needed
Submit proposal for review (success greater than 90%)
Spend 5/6 weeks doing summer research
- wet lab or clinical data analyses
- attend weekly research seminar (every Tuesday)
- present work at biomedical research retreat (optional, end of summer)
- present at the annual SDM Student Research Day (mandatory, held the following spring)
- encouraged to present at scientific meetings (AADOCR, AAO, AAP)