Summer Training on Aging Research Topics - Mental Health (START-MH) Program, conducted by the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at University of California, San Diego, with grant support from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), is a unique national program that offers competitive scholarships to undergraduate, graduate, and medical students who may be interested in aging and mental health research.The program gives students an opportunity to gain research experience and work closely with an established mentor/investigator.
The training will include a rigorous research experience with comprehensive mentoring and advising. During the 10-week summer program, students will work on specific projects developed by, or in conjunction with their mentor. Training sites are located across the country. Students may select their own mentors or they can be matched with mentors based on their research interest and/or geographical area. Shorter training experiences (e.g., 8 weeks) may be arranged under special circumstances. The training is designed for students at all research levels and no formal research experience is necessary. In addition to research, students will be encouraged to attend educational opportunities at their host institution such as research seminars, journal clubs, and case conferences. Students will learn research methods relevant to geriatric mental health.
A 2-day START-MH conference will be held at UCSD in early August where the trainees will present posters on the research done. Additionally, the conference will include discussions of all trainees research experience and plans for future research careers.
Undergraduate participants will receive $5000 for the 10-week training. Graduate and medical student participants will receive $6250 for the 10-week training. The program stipend will be prorated accordingly for shorter training experiences. From this stipend, students are responsible for arranging and paying for their own meals, housing and travel expenses during the training experience. The program will pay for all expenses related to the START-MH conference at UCSD in August. The application for summer 2006 placements is Friday, January 20, 2006. Additional program information is available at http://startmh.ucsd.edu/ or by calling Geraldine Trinidad at (858)642-3966.
Maureen Curran Halpain UCSD Division of Geriatric Psychiatry (858)642-3602 mhalpain@ucsd.edu
