Finding a Mentor
The Basics
Students are encouraged to find a project and a mentor in their chosen field of interest.
Although choosing a field and finding a mentor can be daunting, it is important to remember that
you are committing to a project, not irrevocably setting your future in stone. Good clinical
research in any field can be enjoyable and makes an excellent addition to your CV irrespective of
what field you may later chose to apply in.
We have a large and varied group of faculty doing research at CU, and there are many more
willing mentors than there are students. While some students approach a potential mentor with a
fully formulated, original research idea, most identify a suitable mentor first that is doing work in
a particular area or with a specific research focus. A student and mentor can then work together
to craft an interesting and workable project that matches the mentor’s resources and can be in the
time frame of the Scholarly Project.
Various Approaches to Finding a Mentor
*In Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 Dr. Bill Bulman and Dean Elizabeth Shane reached out to various CUMC departments seeking open research opportunities for medical students. The Medical Students Research Opportunities list reflects responses received. This list is accessed via Sharepoint for students with a CUMC email and is updated as responses are received. Even if an opportunity of interest may no longer be available, you can browse potential mentors and their areas of research. Reach out potential mentors – they love to work with smart, ambitious medical students who are interested in their work!
Search Divisional and Departmental Websites
Every division and department at the medical center has a website with a list of faculty, and most
provide a list of research interests. If you have a general idea of an area that you might be
interested in, spend some time going through the specific areas of focus for each individual
faculty member. Be mindful that some faculty have large, well-funded research operations, with
research coordinators and research residents and fellows, while other faculty members do
research as a supplement to a primarily clinical career. Both scenarios may yield a highly
successful mentor-mentee collaboration, but be sure to understand in advance what resources
will be available to you. Finally, don’t be narrow in your search. Do not forget to consider
faculty in School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the Nursing School and the
Morningside campus.
Review the webpages of individuals whose work interests you. Note that these may not be up to
date. Sites like
PubMed can give you a better sense of recent publications. CUIMC’s Irving
Institute for Clinical and Translational Research also tracks faculty grants, so you can see what a
particular faculty member is working on currently. You can link to their website here:
Irving Institute
Browse Lists of Potential Mentors:
Basic Sciences
Global and Population Health
Join our online “Global Health Projects 2022, Student-Mentor ‘Matchmaking’ event” on November 30, 6:00pm – 7:30pm. At this event, you’ll find out more about our Global and Population Health offerings and projects by speaking with 20+ mentors, programs and sites. Register here: https://events.columbia.edu/go/Matchmaking_2022
Links to CUIMC Research Pages:
Divisions of Medicine
Email Contact: Charles Emala, MD cwe5@cumc.columbia.edu