A medical student and instructor working in a lab look at an overhead slide held by the instructor.
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    Faculty

    • Max Rady College of Medicine
    • Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

  • icon award

    Degree

    • Bachelor of Science in Medicine

  • icon graduate

    Expected duration

    • Two 13-week summer sessions

  • The undergraduate medicine research program is ideal for students in the first year of their undergraduate medical degree. The BSc (Med) program gives you opportunities to engage in original research in basic or clinical sciences and gain experience in all aspects of biomedical research.

    Gain experience in research design, hypothesis testing and critical evaluation of data and the effective communication of results. You may be a future clinician, researcher or scientist. The BSc (Med) degree is only offered by the University of Manitoba.

  • A lab worker looks at a sample under a microscope

Program details

This enhanced degree program runs during summer recess between years one and two, and years two and three of your undergraduate studies in medicine.

Expected duration: Two 13-week summer sessions (during summer recess)

The BSc (Med) program consists of three components with the option of clinical exposure:

  • Research project
  • Written report
  • Dissertation

The goal of the program is to provide trainees with an experience in all aspects of research. The trainee and supervisor work in conjunction to find a project that is suitable, then formulate the experimental protocol, including submission of the protocol to the Research Ethics Committee of the Bannatyne Campus and then undertake the project. Once the project is completed, the trainee will present their findings at the BSc (Med) Dissertation Event. If the data is of sufficient quality and quantity, it is anticipated that the trainee will work with the supervisor to complete a formal manuscript for submission to a peer reviewed journal.

Tuition is additional to the Doctor of Medicine program. However, all eligible students receive stipendiary support, $7,500.

All students enrolled in BSc (Med) and the One Summer Research Program are subject to summer tuition fees. The tuition fee schedule is determined by the registrar’s office. Please follow the internal fee payment deadline.

Summer early clinical exposure

As part of the BSc (Med) program, you may choose to partake in a clinical setting exposure. If you so choose, you are entitled to a minimum of 80 hours of in-clinic exposure over the two summers of the program. Therefore, BSc (Med) students can partake in 40 hours of clinical setting exposure each summer term. The clinical setting is to be agreed upon by both the trainee and supervisor.

For trainees working with basic scientists who do not provide clinical care, a clinical setting with a clinical colleague with a similar area of study can be organized, or, alternatively, the trainee can contact a representative from the BSc (Med) Program for additional guidance on possible clinic settings.

Summer Early Exposure (SEE) — If you want to pursue a summer early exposure, you must apply through the Undergraduate Medical Education office. Visit the SEE webpage for more information.

Additional information on summer research opportunities is available here.

 

Admission requirements

The BSc (Med) is an advanced program, which means you must complete your first year of the Max Rady College of Medicine program and be in good academic standing. To enrol in the BSc (Med) program, you must find a qualified supervisor in any field in the Max Rady College of Medicine.

How to apply

Deadline: December 1

Students cannot already be concurrently enrolled in another program if they want to pursue the BSc(Med) program.

You must work with a supervisor to complete an application to conduct BSc (Med) research. Current MD students will be notified when research project abstracts become available. The student will browse the abstracts and contact the respective supervisor. Students may also find a suitable project and supervisor on their own.

If the student has an idea for an area of investigation, or if a topic in which the student is interested is not posted in the abstracts that have been submitted, the student is at liberty to independently contact a potential supervisor to explore research possibilities and prepare a research proposal that was not otherwise in the collection of available abstracts.

Once the student and supervisor have agreed to submit an application, you must complete the three main documents that will be uploaded within the online application process:

  • Research proposal
  • Abstract
  • Role of the student document

View sample documents

Apply now

Supervisors of students applying for BSc (Med) or the One Summer Program should complete this survey.

Research proposal requirements

The proposal shall be structured as follows:

  1. Introduction
  2. Hypothesis, methods (including sample sizes, calculation and methods for statistical analysis)
  3. Expected results
  4. Expected conclusions
  5. References and supporting

Please ensure pages are single spaced using 12 point Arial font. The first four headings may not exceed three pages and the references and supporting materials may not exceed four pages. The total research proposal submission may not exceed seven pages.

Abstract requirements

The abstract is a synopsis or snapshot of the proposed project.The project abstract should be one page, a maximum of 250 words and should include:

  • Student name
  • Primary supervisor name
  • Co‐supervisor name
  • Title
  • Background
  • Methods (materials/statistical methods and sample size)
  • Anticipated results

Evaluation criteria

Review process

To ensure that trainees have an optimal experience in the BSc (Med) Program, all submitted research proposals are independently reviewed by two established investigators from the University of Manitoba, who then prepare a joint commentary to the Undergraduate Research Program’s Review Committee. The Review Committee meets as a whole to discuss all submitted research projects. Some projects will be accepted as submitted, others will require review and formal response to the questions raised by the reviewers, and some projects will be deemed unacceptable to proceed as BSc (Med) projects and will be rejected.

Research projects for the BSc (Med) Program are evaluated using the following criteria:

Scientific merit

The overall scientific merit of the proposed project:

  • Feasibility as a student research project, over a period of two summers
  • The educational value of the research experience
  • The quality of the expected supervision and research environment

After the project evaluation process has been undertaken, the assessment will lead to one of three possible outcomes that are summarized as follows:

  • Accepted without need for further information or clarification
  • Neither accepted nor rejected as further information is required
  • Rejected (Committee will provide options such as finding a new project, new supervisor or continuing outside of the BSc (Med) Program).

Once a project has been completely rejected the same project may not be revised and resubmitted on the same year as the review.

If the supervisor wishes, the project can be revised and resubmitted for reconsideration by the committee for the following intake year. Students may choose to either;

  1. Proceed with the project independently with the investigator.
  2. This project will not be considered part of the Undergraduate Research Program and the BSc (Med) degree cannot be granted for completion of the project, or
  3. Choose an alternative project to submit by the provided deadline. This project can be created with either the same investigator, or an alternative eligible investigator (committee approved, if applicable).

Authorized withdrawal

The authorized withdrawal deadline for BSc (Med) Program and Summer Research Program is June 17, 2024. This applies to the student's first summer only.

If withdrawing from the BSc (Med) program after the first summer is completed, the student is not eligible for the One Summer Research Program.

For more information on the authorized withdrawal process, please contact the program coordinator.

Transitioning One Summer project to a BSc (Med) project

If you are enrolled as a first-year medical student in the One Summer Research Program and want to transition your project to a BSc (Med) project a revised proposal and letter of support from the supervisor is required. The request to change from one summer to BSc (Med) must be emailed to advanceddegreesmedicine@umanitoba.ca by July 8, 2024.

Learn more

Contact us

Prospective MD students

Max Rady College of Medicine Admissions
260 Brodie Centre
727 McDermot Avenue
University of Manitoba (Bannatyne campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P5

ugme.admissions@umanitoba.ca
Phone: 204-789-3499

Current MD students

Dr. John Embil
Director, BSc Med, MED Summer Research Programs
Phone: 204-789-3558

Allison Birch
Program coordinator
Phone: 204-789-3558