RECR Completion Form

CHM Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) Student Process

The MSU Graduate School requires all academic units to have a Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RECR) plan that teaches students involved in research projects about the correct approaches to the research process. 

CHM RECR Curriculum
 

OVERVIEW:

All CHM students conducting research during medical school must complete 4 hours of Initial RECR training and 6 hours of "discussion-based" RECR training. This training is REQUIRED of all CHM students.    

What do I have to do?

The below list shows the RECR Trainings you will complete or have already completed.

• Four online modules in CITI system (completed in Fall of Year 1 of SDC), see "INITIAL TRAINING" below for more details
• 6 hours of discussion-based training (integrated at specific points in M1 and M2). See "DISCUSSION-BASED TRAINING" below.

IMPORTANT: These trainings are required for degree conferral upon graduation.  

INITIAL TRAINING:

During the first year of medical school, you will be required to complete a group of four modules within the CITI training site. These modules are called the "MSU Graduate School RCR Program" and can be accessed via the MSU CITI Training Program site: 

• Log in to CITI with your MSU netID.
• Click "Add a course" and add the modules "MSU Graduate School RCR Program."

Modules to complete are:

1. Introduction to RCR
2. Authorship
3. Plagiarism
4. Research Misconduct

You are required to complete these modules as part of a MedPath:Research session in Fall of M1.  Completion of these modules is also required for participation on the Early Mentors for Research Program for M1 students looking for engage in research activities.  

Documentation of completion of the CITI modules is done automatically if you have registered with the CITI site using your @msu.edu email address.

If you already have an existing CITI account not associated with your MSU email, you can merge your existing account with your new MSU account by updating your preferred primary email on your existing account to your @msu.edu email.

To find documentation of the RCR CITI Modules, log into the CITI program page. Click "View Courses" next to Michigan State University (MSU).  Under "Completed Courses" you should see MSU Graduate School RCR Program, and a link for "View-Print-Share Record". Click that and print/save a copy of the completion certificate. 

A completion certificate may also be found in MSU's Ability system.

DISCUSSION-BASED TRAINING:

Students must complete an additional 6 hours of discussion-based training. These 6 hours of RECR training must be completed before you graduate.

For 6 hours of Discussion-based RECR training, here are the trainings for CHM students for students graduating in 2027 and 2028:

• The required Epidemiology intersession covers material that can be used for 4 hours of RECR training.
• Topics covered include: Critical appraisal of research, bias in clinical research, biostatistical analysis and interpretation of research findings.
• The required Patient Vulnerabilities and Health Systems intersession covers material that can be used for 2 hours of RECR training.
• Topics covered include: Humans as subjects in biomedical research, mentoring and managing conflicts of interest

Documentation of discussion-based training is accomplished through MSU's Ability system: https://orrs.msu.edu/train/index.html

For the class of 2029 and beyond:

• M1 Week 1 CBL - "Building a foundation in health care ethics."  1 hour.
• Topics covered include: Brief history of bioethics, ethics vs. morality vs. the law, the four principles of biomedical ethics, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
• M1 Week 17 CBL - "Epidemiology: Study Designs 1, Randomized Controlled Trials." 2 hours.
• Topics covered include: Hierarchy of evidence, statistical significance vs. clinical significance, introduction to the RCT, risks of bias in clinical reseach and how to control them in RCTs, clinical equipoise, ethics of RCTs
• M1 Week 19 CBL - Epidemiology: Study Designs 2, Observational Studies." 2 hours.
• Topics covered include: Descriptive vs. analytical studies, study designs (case reports, case series, case-control, cohort, cross-sectional, prevalence studies), retrospective vs. prospective research, risks of bias in observational research, ethics and study design choice, selecting controls in CCS and risks.
• M2 Week 2 - "MedPath: Research."  1 hour.
• Topics covered include: The Belmont Report, role of the IRB, informed consent for research, risk/benefit ratio, subject selection, HIPAA and privacy protections.

Documentation of discussion-based training is accomplished through MSU's Ability system,  Note that the above discussion-based training is not automatically uploaded to Ability. These trainings will appear in Ability only after the completion of the MedPath: Research" session in M2. 

Absences

Discussion-based training for RECR must be done face-to-face (in person or virtual) to allow for discussion between students and trainers/faculty.  If a student misses a required session, a different face-to-face training session must be completed.  We recommend attending an MSU Graduate School RECR Workshop.  

Completing the requirement

Once you have completed the four CITI modules and completed your required discussion-based training, you have met the RECR training requirement at CHM.   

A completion certificate may be required for certain research coursework at CHM and/or by certain institutions.

If you have questions about the RECR Plan or the tracking system, please contact CHM.Research@msu.edu.