What do I need to do before I get involved in a research project or scholarly activity?
Medical Student Research Project/Scholarly Activity Registration Through Salesforce
Heritage College Policy 2.22 requires that all medical students conduct research and scholarly activities under the direction of a mentor and follow all Ohio University and Heritage College policies and procedures, including registering their research and scholarly activities with the Office of Research and Grants through Salesforce. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that all requirements are met prior to engaging in research or scholarly activity.
Please note that research and scholarly activities and dissemination activities not registered in Salesforce will not be considered for a designation of Research Distinction on the Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE). Details about activities that will be considered for a designation of Research Distinction on the MSPE can be found here .
Required Training to Participate in Research and Scholarly Activity
Each research team member, including medical students, must complete human subjects or animal protection training. A faculty or staff member who has HIPAA training or prior research experience is still required to complete the human subjects protection training.
All Heritage College students participating in research and scholarly activity must complete four CITI Program training courses and the Vector HIPAA course and upload the completion reports/certificates to their Student Documents in Salesforce prior to beginning their research project. Required courses include:
- Human Subjects (required for IRB) – Typically must be updated every three years (Please note that students conducting research projects involving animal subjects will also be required to complete Animal (required for IACUC) training.)
- Responsible Conduct for Research training – May need to be updated every two years(Note: Some courses do not have an expiration date.)
- Conflict of Interest training – Typically must be updated every four years
- Good Clinical Practice course – May need to be updated every two to four years (Note: Some courses do not have an expiration date.)
- Vector Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (Full Course) - Medical students will receive notification to update every year(Note: Effective 7/01/2023, the Vector course will replace the CITI course Faculty, Administrators and Students - IPS/HIPAA.)
Getting Started with CITI Training
Required Research Compliance Information
Medical Students are required to obtain research compliance approvals from both the research site (if conducting research outside of an Ohio University campus) and Ohio University prior to engagement in a research study. Information and resources can be found at Ohio University Office of Research Compliance or by emailing compliance@ohio.edu .
Human Ethics (IRB): Medical students are required to submit a deferral request to Ohio University Office of Research Compliance through the Cayuse for research studies that involve either human subjects or protected health information (PHI) and have been reviewed by the research site (if conducting research outside of an Ohio University campus) IRB. Additional information can be found on the Ohio University Cayuse Human Ethics (IRB) webpage .
Basic Instructions for Deferral Request in Cayuse:
- Log Into Cayuse .
- Under Products (upper right corner of screen), Select Human Ethics.
- Click New Study (right corner of screen).
- Enter Study Title and Click Checkmark.
- Click New Submission - Inital (right corner of screen).
- Under Required Tasks (right side of screen), Select Assign PI and Complete All Fields. Please note that once you select Yes to the question related to whether or not the project involves human subjects, Section 2, Reviewing IRB, will open on the left side of your screen. This is where you will indicate whether you are submitting a deferral request or submitting to an OHIO IRB.
- Once the form is fully completed, you can Save or Submit.
- Remember that additional fields will open depending on the answers to many questions throughout the form.
Please note that medical students must request access to the Cayuse system before logging in the first time.
Medical Students Participating in Human Subjects Research at OhioHealth: All protocols involving a Heritage College student must be submitted through SmartIRB, and then, should OhioHealth be determined to be the IRB of record, a deferral is to be requested through the Ohio University IRB Human Subjects module in Cayuse . For more information, please contact your mentor and/or the OhioHealth Research Institute .
Animal Research (IACUC): Medical students are required to submit a deferral request to Ohio University Office of Research Compliance through the LEO Electronic Portal for research studies that involve animalsand have been reviewed by the research site (if conducting research outside of an Ohio University campus) IACUC.
Ohio University Office of Research Compliance
Ohio University Cayuse Human Ethics (IRB)
Cayuse Individual Account Request Form
ORCiD Profiles
ORCiD provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that you own and control, which distinguishes you from every other researcher. You can connect your iD with your professional information – affiliations, grants, publications, peer review and more. You can use your iD to share your information with other systems, ensuring you get recognition for all your contributions, saving you time and hassle and reducing the risk of errors. OHIO University Libraries has created a short educational video on the importance of ORCiD profiles . Medical students are required to submit their ORCiD to the Office of Research and Grants (ORG). ORG will add this information to Salesforce.