CREST Curriculum and Course Descriptions
CREST (Clinical Research Enhancement through Supplemental Training) program is targeted to researchers from all disciplines, particularly physicians enrolled in fellowship training or starting their academic career. The curriculum provides comprehensive coverage of all dimensions of clinical research while allowing scholars to spend the majority of their time in research and clinical activities.
Total units required for CREST Certificate: 20
Please note that "Core Courses" are offered twice a year but you only need to take them once.
CLRE-251: Epidemiology I -Winter or Summer - 2 units
Epidemiology I: Richard Y. Calvo, PhD
Objectives: This course exposes you to the basic principles of epidemiology, including etiology, transmission, outbreak investigation, disease surveillance, screening, and study design. Students will learn about cross-sectional, case-control, cohort and intervention study designs, their strengths and limitations, and how to make the proper choice of study design for conducting your own research. You will learn to identify and calculate the correct measure of risk for each study design, recognize major sources of bias, confounding and misclassification, and understand design and analysis methods of dealing with each, while becoming familiar with criteria to differentiate association from causation.
CLRE257- Epidemiology II - Spring or Fall - 2 units
Epidemiology II: Richard Y. Calvo, PhD
Objective: This course is designed to introduce you to researchers in various epidemiological content areas, including (but not limited to) spatial, environmental/occupational, cancer, nutrition, tobacco and perinatal/reproductive epidemiology. Students will be exposed to a variety of methodologic considerations, including study design and conduct, measurement issues, bias, and data analysis and interpretation relevant to the unique exposures and outcomes in each content area. Students will gain an understanding of the application of epidemiologic methods, and will be introduced to research possibilities.
CLRE250: Patient Oriented Research I - Summer or Winter - 2 units
Patient Oriented Research I: Sheldon Morris, MD, MPH
Objectives: In POR I you will learn and apply the basic elements of design, implementation, and analysis of interventional research. You will develop and present a concept proposal for a clinical trial to your peers and the course faculty and submit it as a product of the course.
Patient-Oriented Research II - 2 units - CLRE-256
CLRE 256: Patient Oriented Research II - Fall or Spring - 2 units
Patient Oriented Research II: Sheldon Morris, MD, MPH
Objectives: POR II builds on POR I by reviewing the ethical and regulatory basis for human research. You will prepare a proposal to the UCSD (institutional Review board (IRB), participate in a mock IRB meeting as both an applicant and reviewer, and submit the completed IRB proposal as the final written submission for the course.
Syllabus/Schedule
CLRE253: Biostatistics I - Winter or Summer - 2 units
Biostatistics I : Florin Vaida, Ph.D.
Objectives: In this course you will gain an understanding of the principles of measurement of clinical data, learn to recognize data types, and to correctly identify statistical methods appropriate for analysis of a given clinical data set. You will gain experience in assembling a clinical dataset in formats suitable for analysis by STATA or other comparable statistical packages. You will also learn skills for conducting graphical and numerical exploratory data analysis, comparative tests of categorical, ordinal, and continuous data, linear and logistic regression analysis, and survival analysis by life table and Kaplan-Meier techniques.
CLRE254: Biostatistics II - Spring or Fall - 2 units
Biostatistics II : Florin Vaida, Ph.D.
Objectives: This course gives you the skills to understand and conduct advanced bio-statistical analyses including: multiple linear and logistic regression, survival analysis, and Cox and extended Cox regression. You will become familiar with person-time rate analysis, Poisson regression, and longitudinal data analysis in the presence of missing values and varying measurement times. This course is a pre-requisite for taking advanced stat courses. (You may take an advanced stat course simultaneously with this course.)
CLRE252: Health Services Research - Summer or Winter - 2 units
Health Services Research: Raphael Cuomo, PhD., MPH
Objective: The main goals of this course are to educate you in identifying the most effective ways to organize, manage, finance, and deliver high quality care; reduce medical errors; and improve patient safety. You will learn to assess healthcare through the lens of business administration by exploring critical concepts in health economics, finance, and accounting. You will learn about methods to assess the cost-effectiveness of different medical interventions, as well as how to conduct research on access to care. Varied data sources and methods, including qualitative research and survey research, will also be introduced in this course.
CLRE255: Data Management & Informatics - Fall or Spring - 2 units
Data Management & Informatics: Mike Hogarth, M.D.
This course will provide you with an orientation to database design and management, and covers key issues regarding data handling for clinical research and clinical trials. You will also become familiar with technology assessment and decision-making methods and analysis.
CLRE259: Scientific Communication Skills - Winter - 2 units
Scientific Communication: Hemal H. Patel, PhD
Objectives: This course covers the key elements of scientific communication skills that are designed to enhance your ability to be a successful clinical researcher. Topics covered in the course include the secrets of making good oral presentations and engaging the audience, learning how to write and prepare abstracts, acquiring the basics of grant writing and submission, and gaining knowledge on how grants are reviewed. The course includes a mock grant study section.
CLRE258: Clinical Research Project Management and Budgeting (Elective)
Clinical Research Project Management and Budgeting (CLRE-258): Andrew Sarkin, PhD & Jennifer J. Ford, MBA
Professional Development Seminar (CLRE-258): Clinical Research Project Management and Budgeting:
Student will learn basic project management skills for medical research projects. Research Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills and techniques to execute research projects effectively and efficiently. It’s a strategic competency for organizations, enabling them to tie project results to research and development goals — and thus, better compete in their markets or increase their ability to get and maintain research funding. Topics include Good Clinical Practice, planning and managing resources, monitoring progress, managing risk, engaging stakeholders, tools for project management, setting and meeting goals, quality monitoring, multi site studies, and maximizing the chances of successfully carrying out clinical and health research studies. In the Research Budgeting portion of the class, scholars will gain a solid understanding of Study Set Up and Management, Effective Study Budget Preparation and Negotiation, Billing and Financial Management, Auditing, Research Compliance and Ethical Considerations.
CLRE258: Effective Communication (Elective)
Effective Communication (CLRE-258): Anne Liljenstrand, Ph.D.
Professional Development (CLRE-258): Effective Communication
The clinical research scientist's professional skills impact his or her ability to communicate, lead, influence, make decisions, collaborate, provide feedback, and manage conflict. The objective is to strengthen one's workplace 'soft skills' through self-awareness, new knowledge, and skill practice. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator will serve as a baseline for understanding communication styles and what may limit our effectiveness. Each session builds in complexity and requires professional goal setting.