Beginning in 2024, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai departments of Medicine and Pediatrics are offering the new R38 Stimulating Access to Research in Residency (StARR) program for residents interested in a career as a physician-investigator. The Mount Sinai StARR Program is sponsored by an R38 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
For Internal Medicine, this American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)-approved opportunity includes a four-year Internal Medicine residency that incorporates 18 months of 80 percent protected time for research and research-related activities during PGY3 and PGY4. The Mount Sinai StARR program is primarily for residents who have not already had extensive research experiences but are interested in gaining research knowledge and skills to develop a future physician-investigator career.
StARR residents will develop an individual development plan (IDP) and receive personalized career development mentorship from the Director of the Physician-Scientist Residency Program. Every StARR resident will have an experienced NIH-funded research mentor to help develop and oversee their research project, which can be in any aspect of clinical, translational, or basic science research, within the scope of the mission of NHLBI. Additionally, StARR residents will have the opportunity to take courses and classes at Icahn Mount Sinai to gain specific research knowledge and skills that will lay the foundation for their future physician-investigator careers. Funds are available for StARR residents to support their research needs as well as conference travel. Importantly, StARR residents are uniquely eligible to apply for the NIH early career K38 Stimulating Access to Research in Residency Transition Scholar award.
The R38 StARR program does not have a separate National Resident Matching Program number. Residents who wish to pursue this pathway will apply to the program after joining our residency program. Please contact Emily Gallagher, MD, PhD, Director of the Physician-Scientist Residency Program and MPI on the R38, award with any questions.