Digitalis purpurea, Foxglove

Laboratory Rotations and Post-Rotation talks       

            Three laboratory rotations are required of Pharmacology students.  The first occurs during the summer prior to the initiation of classes (July - Aug).  The second rotation must be initiated by September 15.  The third must be initiated by May 15 and continues into August.  The first and third rotations are conducted during the summer when the student is expected to be in the laboratory full-time. The second rotation occurs at a time when students are heavily involved with coursework and have difficulty devoting large blocks of time on a regular basis (see Expectations below). 

            The purposes of the laboratory rotations are (1) to become familiar with a significant issue in science and the experimental strategies that may be utilized to approach this issue and (2) to explore laboratories and mentors as potential choices for thesis work. 

During the first week, or so, of the rotation, with the help of your mentor, complete the pre-rotation report form at: http://pharmacology.georgetown.edu/forms/preresrot.htm

Following each rotation, the student will give a short post-rotational talk that summarizes the aim of the project and presents any data that were acquired during the rotation.  A template for this talk is available for downloading at: template.ppt
 
 In addition, within a week after the post-rotation talk, a post-rotation report form needs to be completed:   http://pharmacology.georgetown.edu/forms/pharmrot.htm
The rotation will not be considered completed until this report is filed.

It should be noted that rotations are not expected to generate complete projects and that the 'learning experience' of the rotation is to be emphasized over data collection.

            Expectations of the rotations.  During the first and third summer rotations, students are engaged full-time in the laboratory research.   During the rotation that occurs during the school year, a compromise between the demands of the course load and the research rotation must be achieved.  This compromise changes week to week since the demands of the courses change (e.g. mid-term exams).  Thus, it is difficult to state an absolute number of hours per week a student should commit to this rotation.  A first priority must be for the student to achieve at least passing (B) grades in all courses and a B average overall.  Failure to achieve this academic minimum jeopardizes the graduate status of the student.    Prior to beginning work, students should discuss with their rotation mentors the schedule that their current course load demands and arrange a tentative work schedule for the laboratory rotation.  The mentor should be sensitive to the changing demands of the courses.  The student should realize that graduate school is a full-time occupation and plan to utilize time off from coursework as time to do experiments  (i.e. although everyone needs a vacation,  some fraction of the school holidays are to be used to make progress on your research project.  Similarly, nights and weekends are great times for making progress).   Rotations should be looked at as an opportunity for you to convince the faculty that you will be an outstanding thesis student. 

          This second rotation, Sept through April, can be carried out in a single laboratory or can be an opportunity to explore several laboratories spending, for example,  4-6 weeks in 4-6 labs.

            Expectation of the post-rotational talk.  Following each of the rotations, sessions will be organized during the seminar schedule that allow students to present a short (10-15 minute) talk that summarizes the goal(s) of the research rotation and presents any data acquired.  While these talks should be thoughtfully prepared, they are not meant to be the equivalent of regular seminars at Neurolunch given by more advanced students.  There is no expectation that substantial new data will be generated during the rotation.   A rough guide for a 10-15 minute talk might be to present 3-9 slides.   Slides, while convenient, are not absolutely necessary for a post rotational talk.   Most, if not all, of the talk can be focused around the goals of the rotation, the significance and rationale for these goals and the experimental approaches used to begin to achieve these goals.  If new data have been generated, the presentation of these data will be most welcome (but not required!).