Purpose: This poster describes the efforts to integrate RDM (research data management) tools, such as electronic lab notebooks and the DMPTool, into RDM instruction for students at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Setting: Flexible Clinical Experiences (FCEs) are short (one-week), student-driven or pre-designed for-credit courses available to third-year medical students at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. FCEs allow students to explore an area of clinical interest, to be exposed to medical specialties, or to pursue further learning in a specific field. The Lamar Soutter Library designed and offered an FCE on data management principles and best practices in FY 2015-2016. Initially designed as a lecture-only course following the New England Collaborative Data Management Curriculum, the FCE was tailored to include both an electronic laboratory notebook system and a data management plan generator.

Description: FCE 3017: Research Data Management Fundamentals is a course intended to introduce medical students to the basic principles and best practices for research data management early in their careers. Participants in the course utilized the LabArchives electronic laboratory notebook system and the DMPTool data management plan generator to complete their coursework. All course materials, including a “Gummi Bear Anatomy Study,”[1] were made available to students through the lab notebook tool. Students collected, documented, and shared data using the same system. The goal of using existing tools was to familiarize students with the practical application of RDM principles in the context of a research project, and to identify resources available to them.

Outcome: Participants in FCE3017: Research Data Management Fundamentals were able to successfully apply the basic principles of research data management in the context of a research project, while also utilizing and becoming familiar with available resources.

[1] Vasilevsky N, Wirz J, Champieux R, Hannon T, Laraway B, Banerjee K, Shaffer C, and Haendel M. “Lions, Tigers, and Gummi Bears: Springing Towards Effective Engagement with Research Data management (2014). Scholar Archive. Paper 3571.