The Harvard Orthopedic Trauma Service is a busy pan-campus orthopaedic trauma service with sites at four Harvard-affiliated Level I Trauma Centers: Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital. We are actively recruiting undergraduates to work with our clinical research team. The main aim of the internship is to provide interns with a basic understanding about clinical research, primarily through providing practical experience. The secondary aim is to provide opportunities for interns to shadow in the clinical environments in order to see what life is like in the hospital setting.
Our clinical research work primarily involves the study of patients who experience orthopaedic injuries and the treatments that help these patients heal from their injuries. As part of this work you will conduct literature searches, interact with research subjects, and collect and/or analyze data. You may provide specific research-related expertise to us depending on your background and interests or be asked to write up a case report based on a specific finding in the clinical setting. At some point during the summer it is possible that you may become involved with projects not specifically related to clinical research that are of pertinent interest to our clinical team at the time—i.e., quality assurance projects. You will work with all members of our team—including senior and junior orthopaedic faculty, residents, nurses, and research personnel—along with our colleagues from disciplines outside of Orthopedic Surgery.
A key part of the internship is the experiences our interns have in the hospital environment that show them what it is like to work in a hospital and what it can be like to take care of patients. You will be welcomed and encouraged to observe our team in all of the clinical areas in which we work: the operating room, the emergency room, the outpatient clinic, and the inpatient units. You are welcome to attend any conferences or educational forums that are open to residents, attendings, and hospital staff.
We are looking for candidates who are curious, flexible, and have the ability to think on their feet. We value candidates who have strong interpersonal skills and like to be part of a team. Candidates should be literate in Microsoft Word, Excel. Prior coursework in statistics and computer science is a plus. Past experience with clinical research is helpful but not required.