The scholarly activity rotation enables medical students to develop research skills and work with faculty on projects.

At UT Southwestern, third-year medical students develop their research skills by devoting 12 weeks to a scholarly activity rotation. This rotation is a valuable part of the curriculum and helps students engage with faculty. MS3 Elizabeth Cochran spent her scholarly activity rotation project on “predictors of early symptom development and appropriate timing of surgical intervention in infants with prenatally diagnosed choledochal cysts” with pediatric surgeon and Associate Professor David Schindel, M.D.

“My interest in this topic began when I was rotating with the pediatric surgery department last spring,” explains Cochran. “I had the opportunity to scrub in on a choledochal cyst case with Dr. Schindel, and he explained that the baby had been diagnosed with the cyst in utero. The increasing prevalence of prenatally diagnosed cysts had brought up some questions regarding the expected clinical course of these infants. After the case, I expressed to Dr. Schindel my desire to become a surgeon.

“I asked if he thought there might be a research project I could build around this case, and he suggested that a project focused on the impact of prenatal diagnosis might be both interesting and useful. So far, it has been a wonderful research experience.

“We were able to identify two imaging findings present at birth that appear to be predictive of the development of cyst-related complications during the first month of life, which I’m hopeful could be utilized to give surgeons treating these infants a better way to determine which babies need early surgical intervention. I am so grateful for the addition of the scholarly project to our medical school curriculum and for terrific mentors like Dr. Schindel who take the time to teach and encourage students like myself.”