Channel: Temerty Medicine clear
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| 1 | Temerty Medicine | Translational Research Program | 4931 | 47.2 | 5:08 | Hello, I'm joined today by Joseph Ferenbach and Stuart Berger, who are here today to talk about a new program that's been introduced by the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto, known as the Translational Research Program. Gentlemen, good afternoon. Can you tell us a little bit about why the TRP program is needed right now? Well, let me start by explaining what translational research is. So translational research really describes the process by which basic discoveries, clinical insights, even health policy initiatives are actually taken from laboratories from the clinic and brought into the real world where they can have impact. And there's a huge unmet need for translational research because I think everybody understands that our healthcare system is really under strain. And as our aging population grows, you know, we would be faced with all kinds of health challenges. And there's a consensus that simply doing the same thing over or better is not going to be the answer. Our system needs innovation. Our program is really designed to teach students to be facilitators of those innovative opportunities that will transform healthcare. So Joseph, how does the program make that happen and why is this a place to make it happen? Well, the central aspect of the program is the capstone project. So we don't just sit students in a classroom and say, here's your textbook, SIA. Here's your lecture, you know, write an exam. This program is fundamentally learning by doing. So students engage with faculty and mentors in a very flexible environment where they go out, they identify needs, ingenuity gaps, things that they look around and they see are missing or have potential for improvement. And then they come back and they say, okay, what can we do to improve this? What can we do? What can we design to solve this problem? And the capstone project becomes this vehicle whereby they build networks. They go out and understand the landscape of where things are, what's happening. They build relationships. They put in creativity and problem solving skills in order to plan a project, in order to meet milestones, work with researchers, faculty and other students to then execute and then evaluate what it is they get. Will it help? What could it do? Where can they take the next steps so that really this bit about translating is we're taking the science and the understanding and saying, what can we do next with it to improve health? What can we, whether it's a widget or a policy or some sort of interesting outcome that ultimately makes someone or hopefully lots of someone's feel better in the long run? Sure, we're in a time of a changing job market. How does this program help students respond to that? Well, our students are actually quick and concerned about career possibilities. They are talking amongst themselves. They are looking for all kinds of information about how careers, how their education is going to allow them to advance their own careers. And I think there's a consensus that the old way of having a career for life in a single position, for example, is no longer the only option, in fact, is probably going to be the minority option in the future. Students are aware that in order to be able to take advantage of all the opportunities that are going to be out there, they are going to need not so much degrees, but rather skill sets and specific knowledge that will allow them to take advantage of those opportunities. Our program is really designed to do that, to allow our students to acquire those skills that they can then take pretty much in almost any direction in the biomedical space. We think our students will be highly regarded in startups, in biotech, in pharma, in CROs, contract research organizations, government, academia. I think the skills that we are going to be teaching them are things that will be transferable in a number of areas. So Joseph, people who are looking for more information, where can they turn? Well, you can look us up online at trp.utoronto.ca. You can send the program an email at trp.medscience at utoronto.ca. That's great. Thank you. | ↗ |