IRTHA Training Program Components

IRTHA trainees benefit from active engagement in the program’s four-part training model:

  1. Didactic coursework that provides an interdisciplinary foundation in conceptual models, study designs, and analytic approaches in public health and aging research.

The required didactic coursework for IRTHA trainees is as follows:​​

In addition, IRTHA trainees are required to participate in at least two seminars, lectures, workshops, or similar type of academic activity per semester on topics relevant to public health and aging. The Program Directors and Faculty Mentors will assist the trainees in identifying activities suited to the interests, training needs, and goals of each trainee.

  1. Engagement in mentored research projects, supported by a network of committed mentors from a range of disciplines.

Active participation in a mentored research project will be the principal activity of all trainees. Given the interdisciplinary focus of the training program, trainees will be engaged in a variety of research activities. Most trainees will focus their research on the analysis of data from large-scale epidemiologic studies or population surveys on aging housed at U-M as part of their doctoral dissertation research. Some trainees may supplement these analyses with population-based approaches involving the analysis of detailed biomarker data, especially if the research includes a focus on biological susceptibility mechanisms. Trainees will have access to an enormous spectrum of research projects and studies across the campus. Each trainee will design, develop, and execute a set of research activities in close collaboration with his or her Mentor.

All Mentor-Trainee dyads compose an Individual Development Plan (IDP) plan at the beginning of each year of training to monitor trainee progress and ensure that goals are being met. The plan will serve as a document to guide the evaluation process at the end of the year, and will be reviewed by the Program Directors to ensure trainee progress and well-being.

  1. Training in the use of population-based aging datasets, including activities that connect trainees with other early-career aging researchers supported by complementary programs and centers at the University of Michigan.

The University of Michigan houses a wealth of flagship datasets on public health and aging, several of which are led by IRTHA Faculty Mentors. These include the US Health and Retirement Study, the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation-Aging, Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi, Americans’ Changing Lives, the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC).

IRTHA trainees will gain unique hands-on training in the access and use of public health and datasets such as these through one-on-one mentored research projects using these datasets with the appropriate Faculty Mentors who are PIs of these studies or experienced with them. The University of Michigan also offers many short didactic training workshops and courses to support data users with several of these datasets.

  1. Professional development in the collaboration, communication, and leadership skills essential for productive research careers in the field of aging.

Professional development is provided through formal Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship training, in addition to regular monthly mentorship meetings between the trainees and Program Directors. These mentorship meetings typically feature a guest speaker selected by the trainees, and have the goal of uncovering the “hidden curriculum” in academia. Topics in the past year have included managing a research career in aging as a female academic, conducting community-engaged research on aging, and career pathway discussions with former IRTHA trainees. Professional development is also achieved by supporting trainees to submit and present their research at relevant conferences. All IRTHA trainees are strongly encouraged to submit their work to the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) annual meeting. Networking with colleagues and potential future mentors and employers is an important aspect of GSA, and the Program Directors and Faculty Mentors historically have helped connect IRTHA trainees with their own professional networks at this meeting.