Curriculum and Academic Programs

The Human Investigations Program offers a Certificate in Human Investigations and a Master of Clinical Research (MCR). Both options offer graduate level academic credit building on the same core courses and differentiated by the number of elective courses. The core courses are offered in a fixed sequence over two years. HIP courses are graded on a pass/no pass basis. A non-degree option is available for individuals who may want to take coursework in HIP without earning a degree.

The Master of Clinical Research offers formal training for clinicians and scientists who desire to make clinical or translational research either their predominant focus or a substantial part of their long-term career goal. The main objectives of the MCR. are to prepare a cohort of trained investigators who will be able to successfully compete for federal, foundation, and industry funding and to conduct research and publish their findings.

This MCR is only available to individuals already enrolled in the certificate track or who have recently completed the certificate. Individuals completing all program requirements will receive a Master of Clinical Research degree.

Programs and requirements

Requirements for Certificate

A total of 24 credits hours completed in 2 years (maximum of 4 years). Individuals completing this track will receive a graduate Certificate in Human Investigations.

Core Courses:

HIP 510 Introduction to Clinical Research (1 cr.)
HIP 511 Clinical Research Design I (2 cr.)
HIP 511A Proposal Development (3 cr. total)
HIP 512 Clinical Research Design II (2 cr.)
HIP 513 Clinical Research Design III (2 cr.)
HIP 516 Protection of Human Subjects (1 cr.)
HIP 517 Scientific Writing & Data Presentation (1.5 cr.)
HIP 523 Data Science for Clinical & Translational Research (2 cr.)
HIP 507A Evidence-based Medicine Seminar (2 cr.) OR  HIP 538 Community-Engaged Research (2 cr.)

Mentored Capstone Project:
HIP 526 Capstone (6 credits)

Elective courses:

  • Elective HIP course of at least 1.5 credits
    • Suggested elective that are tuition-free and scheduled for certificate students
      • HIP 522 Fundamentals of RCTs
      • HIP 514 Cellular and Molecular Approaches to Disease
      • HIP 536 Biomarkers of Psychological Stress
      • HIP 537 Introduction to Implementation Science
    • See course descriptions for more information
  • Permission required if taking an elective course from another graduate program at OHSU.

The core required courses and suggested electives are tuition-free and students only need pay a university fee for each term enrolled.  See more about tuition and fees

Time to Certificate Completion

  • Most students are full-time working professionals and will generally take one or two sequential classes per term.
  • Certificate students will typically need 2 years to complete degree requirements but are allowed up to 4 years to complete the program. A flexible option may be constructed with approval of the HIP director.

Sequence of Study

First Year Curriculum

Fall term:

  • HIP Orientation (half-day seminar)

    Mandatory one-time, half-day orientation for certificate and MCR students. See course schedule for date and time. Non-degree trainees are strongly encouraged to attend. This orientation is combined with an online course, HIP 510 Introduction to Clinical Research, for one credit.

  • HIP 510 Intro to Clinical Research (online, 1 credit)
  • HIP 511 Clinical Research Design I (2 credits)
    • This is the first course in the Clinical Research Design sequence. Students must commit to enroll in all 3 terms.
  • HIP 511A Proposal Development (1 credit)
    • Note that this course is schedule as 2 sessions each term, fall winter and spring (3 credits total). Students must commit to enroll in all 3 terms and to be enrolled in or have already completed Clinical Research Design I, II and III. This course requires intensive work in order to keep on schedule to write a research proposal.

Winter term:

  • HIP 512 Clinical Research Design II (2 credits)
  • HIP 511A Proposal Development (1 credit)

Spring term:

  • HIP 513 Clinical Research Design III (2 credits)
  • HIP 511A Proposal Development (1 credit)

Time Commitment and Attendance

  • Students typically attend class one evening a week from 4:30-6:30 p.m. over 2 years.
  • Classes are scheduled on the same day throughout both the first and second year: Tuesday evening over the two years if cohort starts in an odd year,  Wednesday evening over the two years if cohort starts in an even year. 
  • Electives may be offered on other days than the core courses.  A plan of study is recommended for all years in the program in order to schedule in all electives.
  • Classes are of variable length (4 sessions to 11 sessions) and scheduled sequentially.
  • Trainees should expect an average of 4 hours of homework and reading per week.
  • MCR students may add electives to the core curriculum starting as early as their 1st year but will often wait until the 2nd year.

See course schedules for more details.

Individuals accepted into the program will be asked to sign a contract of commitment. Students are expected to be present during class meetings and to be engaged in learning. All students enrolled for academic credit are expected to complete the core curriculum and its assignments and attend a minimum of 75% of class meetings.

For in-person classes, in-person attendance is expected. For virtual classes, synchronous attendance is expected. Recordings of class in both formats may be available to make up for the occasional absence. Any exceptions to this policy will reviewed on an individual basis by the course director. Approval will be dependent on student progress or assignment of additional work to evaluate meeting of the learning objectives.