Clinical Investigation: Curriculum

Both the master’s and certificate program offer a parallel instructional format that includes classroom and online options for many of its courses. All classes are available online via dynamic, web-based software developed at MGH Institute, while a number are offered in person on our Boston campus in the Charlestown Navy Yard. Classroom courses meet once a week from 5 to 8 PM. Our online courses have been developed, and are taught by, the same faculty who teach the onsite courses.

Online courses operate on a weekly assignment basis that promote a dynamic interchange between classmates while also providing scheduling and time-management flexibility for students with other professional and life commitments. As a part of their weekly assignments, distance learning students engage in vigorous online discussions with their instructors and their fellow classmates. These asynchronous discussions enhance the learning experience as they challenge each student’s critical thinking and communication skills.

The 15 credit certificate program consists of five multidisciplinary courses that makes up the core of the CI program. These courses focus on clinical research methods and design, biostatistics, ethical considerations inherent to clinical investigation, and the law and health policy governing the field.

The 36 credit master’s program includes all the courses in the certificate program along with a variety of other required and elective courses. Given the variety of backgrounds and credentials our students bring to this program and the range of opportunities that await them upon graduation, much attention is placed on helping students reach their personal goals and objectives in this program. Both the Clinical Investigation Project and Mentored Field Experiences offer opportunities for personalizing this program toward individual student needs and interests.

Combining academic instruction with hands-on practicum, the master’s program features two semesters of Mentored Field Experiences in which students work with a clinical investigator or team in the student's area of interest. Through our affiliation with the Partners Healthcare System (the largest regional recipient of NIH grant funds) we are able to often offer our students premium placements in world-class research institutions including: Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Children’s Hospital Boston, McLean Hospital, and major pharmaceutical and innovative biotech firms. On-going clinical investigations within those organization that are available to our master’s students include research in the areas of diabetes, neurology, oncology, cardiology, psychopharmacology, reproductive endocrinology, regulatory issues, biostatistics, and education.

These Mentored Field Experiences not only provide opportunity for our students to integrate their theoretical understanding of research methods, statistics, ethics, and regulatory policy with the development of concrete clinical investigation skills and conduct, they also provide invaluable networking opportunities. Many master’s graduates end up gainfully employed by the very organizations with whom they do their Mentored Field Experiences. These placements also provide students who are new to the field with the experience they need for entry into the clinical research field.

Environment:

Students of this intensive master’s program enjoy a uniquely personalized environment in which they are the center of faculty attention. Since MGH Institute is solely dedicated to graduate education, our students don’t compete with undergraduates for faculty attention, as they might at other institutions. Our students also enjoy collegial working relationships with their fellow classmates in which they learn and study together in a noncompetitive educational environment.