CVRI Research and Training Programs

Instructors:

• Donald M. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., John V. Fahy, M.D., Mimi Zeiger, M.A. , (415) 476-5730, mimi.zeiger@ucsf.edu

Goal:

• To help researchers improve their lecturing skills for teaching purposes, research talks, job interviews, and talks at national and international meetings.  The atmosphere is positive, supportive, and friendly.  Participants learn both by giving their own talks and by critiquing others' talks.

Topics:

• Demonstration talk
• Critique of the demonstration talk
  
• Principles for giving clear talks
• How to prepare a talk
• What makes a good illustration for a talk
• Talks by class members
• Stagefright (dealt with individually)

Text:

• Handouts prepared by the instructors

Schedule:

• One class a year, beginning in January and lasting 10 weeks, on the Parnassus campus
• 3:00 - 6:00 p.m., Mondays
• A second class, in summer, meets at the Gladstone Institutes (Mission Bay).  Instructors: Robert W. Mahley, M.D., Ph.D., Douglas Nixon, M.D., Ph.D., Mimi Zeiger, M.A.

Enrollment:

• Limited to 15 participants.
  

Attendance:

• Attendance at all 10 sessions of the class is required.

Homework:

• Preparation of two talks:
  • A 20-minute talk on a scientific topic of the speaker's choice
  • A 20-minute "chalk talk," a 20-min revision of the first talk, a 10-min talk based on the first talk, or a new 20-minute talk

Class Activities:

• Presenting two talks
• Listening to and critiquing classmates' talks

Description:

• First two sessions: instruction
• Next eight sessions:  talks by class members
• The audience consists of the other class members and the instructors.
• Each talk is videotaped.
• After the talk, the speaker watches the DVD privately while the class discusses the strengths of the talk and makes suggestions for improvement.
• The discussion is also videotaped.
• Then the speaker rejoins the group, one of the instructors summarizes the group's comments, and the speaker responds to the comments.
• The process is then repeated for the second speaker.
• At the end of the course, each participant keeps the DVDs of the talk and the discussion of the talk.

Follow-up:

• Working individually with Mimi Zeiger on talks being prepared for presentation

Background:

• Experience designing and performing experiments and analyzing data, including statistical analysis as needed
• Fluency in English

Enrolling:

• One to two months before each class begins, trainees in the CVRI, the Gladstone Institutes, and other fellows at UCSF will receive an announcement of the Art of Lecturing course by e-mail.  Fill in the form and return it to Mimi Zeiger.  She will contact you to arrange for an interview, mainly to discuss your background, schedule, and commitment to the course.  If you do not get a form, or if you have any questions, you can contact Mimi Zeiger at (415) 476-5730 or mimi.zeiger@ucsf.edu.
• Junior faculty, fellows, visiting scientists, post-graduate researchers, and graduate students from other institutes or departments at UCSF are welcome to enroll in the Art of Lecturing course as space permits.  Please contact Mimi Zeiger at (415) 476-5730 or mimi.zeiger@ucsf.edu.

Instructor:

• Mimi Zeiger, M.A., (415) 476-5730,  mimi.zeiger@ucsf.edu.

Goal:

• To help researchers learn how to write clear papers for publication in scientific journals.  The emphasis is on sending a clear message and telling a clear story.

Topics:

• Building blocks of writing: word choice, sentence structure, paragraph structure (7 sessions)
• Structure of the parts of a scientific paper:  introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, figures and tables, abstract, title (7 sessions)
• The writing and publishing processes (1 session)

Texts:

• Zeiger, M. Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2000.
• Strunk W, White EB. The Elements of Style, 4th ed. New York: Allyn & Bacon; 2000

Schedule:

• Three classes a year, each class having 15 sessions over 10 - 12 weeks
  • winter (Jan. - Mar.) in the CVRI (Parnassus campus), for European- and English-language fellows
    
  • summer (June - Aug.) at the Gladstone Institutes (Mission Bay) for European- and English-language fellows
  • fall (end of Sept. - Dec.) in the CVRI (Parnassus or Mission Bay), for Asian-language fellows 
• 4:00 - 6:00 p.m., Mondays or Tuesdays and some Fridays

Enrollment:

• Limited to 13 participants

Attendance:

• Attendance at all 15 sessions of the class is required.

Homework:

• Rewriting examples of unclear writing
• Rewriting an introduction, results section, and discussion for a paper of your own
• Reading the textbook
• Time needed for homework:  2 - 3 h per class session; more time if writing is difficult for you or if English is not your native language.
• All exercises are critiqued by the instructor and returned to the participants at the next class session.

Class Activities:

• Lectures (33%)
• Discussion of examples from published papers (33%)
• Discussion of revisions of exercises (16%)
• Participants' critique and discussion of each other's introduction, results, and discussion (16%)
  

Description:

• This course begins with the smallest unit of writing (word choice) and works up to the largest unit (the paper as a whole).  The course is developmental--later concepts (for the parts of the paper) build on earlier concepts (word choice, sentence structure, paragraph structure).

Follow-up:

• Working individually with Mimi Zeiger on papers being prepared for publication

Background:

• Experience designing and performing experiments and analyzing data, including statistical analysis as needed
• Fluency in English
• Experience in writing a paper, a poster, an abstract, or a grant application

Enrolling:

• One to two months before each class begins, trainees in the CVRI, the Gladstone Institutes, and other fellows at UCSF will receive an announcement of the Scientific Writing course by e-mail.  Fill in the form and return it to Mimi Zeiger.  She will contact you to arrange for an interview, mainly to discuss your background, schedule, and commitment to the course.  If you do not get a form, or if you have any questions, you can contact Mimi Zeiger at (415) 476-5730 or mimi.zeiger@ucsf.edu.
• Junior faculty, fellows, visiting scientists, post-graduate researchers, and graduate students from other institutes or departments at UCSF are welcome to enroll in the Scientific Writing course as space permits.  Please contact Mimi Zeiger at (415) 476-5730 or  mimi.zeiger@ucsf.edu.