Newly Minted MD Credits UCSF-CTSI Research Program for Giving Him Direction and First Published Paper

By Kate Rauch "After my third year of medical school, I wasn't completely sure about my career," says Vignesh Arasu, who studied medicine at UCSF. "I was drawn to many specialties but also interested in research, and I was at a point when I wanted to take some time to explore this further." Arasu joined the Pathways to Careers in Clinical and Translational Research Program (PACCTR) to do a one-year clinical research fellowship, developed by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at UCSF. The program hones research skills while guiding students on real projects, matching them with a mentor. Together with his mentor, UCSF researcher and radiologist Bonnie M. JoeUCSF Profiles, MD, PhD, Arasu took on a research project which resulted in his first peer-reviewed article about a new computer tool that shows potential to help reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies in women screened for breast cancer. See our earlier post. For a fledgling medical researcher, publishing the first article in a peer-reviewed journal is a significant rite of passage, from grinding away at hunches and postulations, to recognition in the scientific world. "This program not only helped me get my first publication off the ground, it also powered my education. I got a lot of clinical exposure and I met a lot of people which affirmed my decision to go into radiology," Arasu said. And what is in it for the mentor? Because the CTSI-PACCTR fellowship is one year, it allows mentors to provide students with challenging, in-depth projects that really teach academic research skills, JoeUCSF Profiles said. "It is quite rewarding to watch students develop and mature as clinician-scientists." CTSI at UCSF is a member of the national, NIH-funded CTSA network focusing on accelerating research to improve health. The Pathways to Career in Clinical and Translational Research Program (PACCTR) is among a wide range of CTSI resources and services that support research at every stage. Photo credit: Elisabeth Fall Photography/ F A L L F O T O San Francisco, CA