Research training

Research opportunities at Mayo Clinic are outstanding. Your particular project(s) depend on your interests and background. Research opportunities are divided into two broad categories — clinical research and basic science laboratory research.

Clinical research

You have access to Mayo Clinic's world-renowned medical records system for clinical research. During your residency, you conduct at least one clinical research project, publish the results, and make at least one regional or national presentation.

Basic science laboratory research

If you have an excellent clinical record and are interested in an academic surgical career, you are encouraged to pursue basic science laboratory research. You may begin a research project after PGY-2, or you may complete your residency training and then focus on research. Roughly one-third of our general surgery residents add one or more years of laboratory research to their five-year residency training. Credits can be applied toward an M.S. or a Ph.D. at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Mayo Clinic offers two basic science laboratory research opportunities: a one-year program and a two-year clinician-investigator program.

• One-year research program. This program gives you the opportunity to assess your aptitude for bench research and develop your fundamental research skills. To enhance your productivity, you are encouraged to initially base your research on an existing research project. Current areas of basic science laboratory research include:

  • Cardiac surgery
  • Colorectal physiology
  • Gastrointestinal physiology
  • General thoracic surgery
  • Laparoscopic surgery
  • Oncology and immunology
  • Pediatric surgery
  • Plastic surgery
  • Transplantation, including xenotransplantation, heart and lung, hepatic, and renal and pancreas
  • Vascular surgery

• Clinician Investigator Training Program. Mayo Clinic's Clinician Investigator Training Program is two years in length. When you complete this program, you will be academically prepared, competent in clinical surgery, technically skilled in research, and capable of competing in today's research environment.

  The Clinician Investigator Training Program includes two years in basic science laboratory research and a core curriculum of research seminars, guest seminars, and didactic courses in subjects such as:

  • Advances in cell molecular biology
  • Cellular and quantitative biology
  • Physiology
  • Statistics

  If you are interested in the Clinician Investigator Training Program, you should indicate your interest early in your residency training. You will then be assigned to a faculty member who can help you develop a competitive written research proposal.