Q: Is Hopkins All About Research?

There is research going on all across Johns Hopkins, but that may not mean what you think it does.

Today at Hopkins, we define research in its broadest sense. While more than 80 percent of our basic-science faculty are working on National Institutes of Health grants, exploring the very roots of human functioning, so are more than 50 percent of our clinical faculty, as they investigate new approaches to diagnosis and treatment. But research today extends still further. Consider a few examples:

• Outcomes studies are analyzing the treatment methods and techniques that best help patients.
• Public health studies (often done in concert with The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health) are looking at how lifestyle, income, environment and ethnicity affect health and well-being.
• Translational studies determine how the latest discoveries about biology and genetics can help patients in hospitals and community practices.

The Dual Degree

Roughly 10 percent of medical students at Johns Hopkins set their sights on a joint M.D./Ph.D. degree. The program offers superb preparation for careers in academic medicine, government or private research. Extraordinary flexibility is a characteristic of this seven- to eight-year course of study. The breadth of Hopkins' basic-science endeavors means that students can choose their Ph.D. specialization from almost every area of the biomedical sciences.

For their first two years, most M.D./Ph.D. candidates-and we say most because each student can individualize his or her program in numerous ways-follow much the same course of study as their M.D.-only classmates. But after they complete one or more clinical clerkships they embark on an uninterrupted four-year program of graduate study. They'll later return to the hospital to complete required and elective clinical rotations.

Inspiring Examples

Medical students at Hopkins aren't required to do research during their years here, but more than 80 percent of them eventually opt to. Asked what drives that decision, many cite the commitment by faculty mentors to the relentless pursuit of new knowledge and better techniques.

As a student, your research experiences can range from two-month electives to a year or more of leave for extended study. Every summer, nearly 100 students pursue investigations with support from Hopkins-sponsored grants. And every spring, the Hopkins community gathers to honor the work of its budding researchers during the Young Investigator Awards ceremony.

The ability to conduct, evaluate and understand research will be critical as medicine advances. That'll be as true for the general practitioner as for the neurosurgeon. So, back to your question: Is Hopkins all about research? You bet.

Blazing New Trails

Every year, there are more than half a million patient visits to Johns Hopkins hospitals and outpatient facilities. That means physicians and students here care for an astonishing range of people, from the urban poor who suffer from distressingly common ailments to wealthy international patients seeking treatment for rare problems. With such a diverse patient population, opportunities abound for research. At any given moment, nearly 2,000 different studies are under way.