Research Interest Group
Mission
The West Virginia University School of Medicine Research Interest Group serves to provide
medical students interested in participating in research the tools to pursue opportunities through
workshops and faculty presentations. This organization is designed to make research more
accessible to students who are interested and ready to step into this significant aspect of
medicine.
Objectives
1) Provide students with workshops in which they learn aspects of exploring, selecting, and
contacting possible research mentors. Create an atmosphere of accessibility to
research, without pressure to begin prior to student’s being prepared.
2) Host faculty to discuss their active projects and past experience in the field of medical
research. The executive team will ask them to share their expectations for medical
students working on their studies.
3) Create and maintain a research opportunity catalog accessible to their entirety of the
medical school.
4) Host a specific late winter workshop for first year students to discuss the INTRO
research program and other summer research opportunities with second year students.
5) Provide opportunities for first year students to get involved in leadership within the
organization with two executive positions specifically.
Officers
- Kate Schwartzman
- President
- James Shockley
- Vice President
- Regan Cochran
- Secretary
- Regan Cochran
- Treasurer
Bylaws
West Virginia University School of Medicine Research Interest Group Constitution
I. ORGANIZATION
A. The name of this organization shall be the West Virginia University School of
Medicine Research interest Group.
II. MEMBERSHIP
A. Membership in the Research Interest Group shall be open to any currently
enrolled medical student at West Virginia University School of Medicine.
III. NON-DISCRIMINATION
A. We shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin,
ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
IV. OFFICERS
A. The following officers shall be elected: One President, one Vice President, one
Secretary, and three Co-directors of Opportunity (one position must be filled by
an MS1), and one M1 liaison.
B. The Research Interest Group will work with a WVU Medicine faculty advisor that
is passionate about research and working with students.
C. Members of the executive board can create and remove officer positions as the
need arises via amending the constitution.
D. Officers will be elected at the last leadership meeting of each year by members of
the executive board.
E. M1 positions shall be elected following the first RIG meeting in the fall of the
academic year.
F. DUTIES:
1. The president serves as chief communicator with the RIG faculty advisor,
performs outreach to guest speakers, organizes RIG meetings, and
delegates tasks to the executive board members. The President will also be
responsible for representing the organization at events and presiding over
RIG meetings.
2. The Vice President assists the president and maintains the official RIG
research opportunity catalog in conjunction with the co-directors of
Opportunity.
3. The Secretary communicates with the organization members via email
about upcoming events and opportunities. The Secretary records
attendance and minutes for each meeting.
4. The Co-Directors of Opportunity assist the Vice President in the curation
of the RIG research opportunity catalog.
5. The M1 liaison communicates with the 1st year class via Groupme about
RIG events and assists in avoiding schedule conflicts with 1st year
students. The liaison reports to the executive board with any questions or
comments regarding RIG events or related research questions from the M1
class.
V. MEETINGS
A. Meetings consisting of faculty-lead workshops and seminars will be held
approximately once per month, with a minimum of 3 meetings each semester.
RIG will be represented at the WVU Student Organization fair to gain interest in
the organization.
VI. AMENDMENTS
A. Amendments to the constitution may be submitted by any member of the
organization. A majority vote by the executive board of RIG is required to amend
the Constitution.