Volunteers

 

Program Description

Dr. Uzma Samadani’s lab offers an opportunity for undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent graduates pursuing a clinical career path to take part in our competitive volunteer program. Volunteer researchers should have a strong interest in medicine, neuroscience, and biomedical research. Volunteer researchers are unpaid and must commit to at least 8 hours of regularly scheduled work each week. Our lab accepts applications three times annually for fall semester, spring semester, and summer term.

Benefits of Volunteering

  • The opportunity to write papers and posters
  • Opportunities for directed research
  • Hands on clinical experience
  • Networking opportunities
  • Opportunities to attend educational and departmental meetings
  • The opportunity for the volunteer position to turn into a paid position

    • Volunteer Commitments

  • Training (at least one weekend day before the start of your volunteer term)
  • At least 8 hours of regularly scheduled work each week for the duration of the volunteer term. Shifts are Monday through Sunday 8AM-12PM, 12PM-4PM, and 4PM-8PM
  • Completing a special project during your time as a volunteer
  • Volunteers are encouraged to attend weekly lab meetings on Mondays at 3PM and weekly journal club meetings on Fridays at 10AM, schedules permitting

    • Volunteer Duties

    All volunteers will be trained in performing neurocognitive assessments, screening, and patient enrollment procedures because this is the overwhelming need of our lab staff. Volunteers will be available to staff to perform these procedures as needed. Volunteers will also have an individualized project for the length of their commitment. Each volunteer will start and complete a special project during their volunteer term. Volunteers will be placed on special projects that suit their individual interests. Areas of focus for special projects may include:
  • Literature reviews, writing papers, and writing posters
  • Data analysis, statistics, and programming projects
  • Administrative projects
  • Other projects that may suit the individual interests of the volunteer

    • Volunteer Training

    After the initial group training, volunteers will have ongoing opportunities for on-the-job training in the following areas:
  • Neurocognitive assessments
  • Patient screening and recruitment procedures
  • Epic
  • Data capture systems including Quesgen and Redcap
  • Protocol training
  • Medical terminology
  • Data analysis and quality assurance
  • Paper Writing

    • Applications

    Please send an updated resume and cover letter describing your interest in the lab to usamadan@umn.edu to be considered for our volunteer cohort.

    Questions

    Please email usamadan@umn.edu with questions.