Multiple opportunities for research are built into the requirements and curriculum of our program. Residents will participate in didactics throughout their y week curriculum centered on building research knowledge and critical thinking skills. They will work as a group with their y-week cohort on development and implementation of a quality improvement project each year. Each resident will also complete an independent scholarly activity and present their work at a local, regional, or national conference prior to the completion of their residency training. The goal of each of these activities is that residents would leave this program confident on the structure or various study types, process to initiate quality improvement within a healthcare system, critical thinking skills, and tools for lifelong learning. Below is more detailed information about each component of our research curriculum and scholarly activity.
Y-Week Research Curriculum
Throughout the y week curriculum, residents will receive instruction on various topics around research and scholarly activity. Some examples of these include: Navigating the IRB process, writing an abstract, how to present your research, writing a manuscript, and more. Alongside these lectures, residents will also participate in a journal club as a y-week cohort. These sessions develop important critical thinking skills for residents for their future careers in pediatrics.
Quality Improvement
Every year, each y-week cohort takes part in the development and implementation of a quality improvement project for our inpatient or outpatient services. Each cohort works closely with 1-2 mentors who instruct and guide them on the processes surrounding quality improvement and initiating interventions within a healthcare system. This is a unique opportunity for residents to learn about working with stakeholders, gathering and analyzing data, how to implement an intervention within a system, etc. At the end of each academic year, residents will present their quality improvement project to the residency and pediatric department and have the option to submit for other regional or national conferences.
Scholarly Activity
Each resident will complete a scholarly project and present their work at a local, regional, or national conference as a requirement for graduation. Residents have the opportunity to choose from a broad range of research subjects and types. Previous projects have included improvements in medical education, quality improvement measures, laboratory benchwork, retrospective/prospective clinical studies, and more. Trainees will work closely with the mentor for their project on the development of a research question, literature review, IRB protocol writing and submission, data collection, and abstract submission and presentation. Many residents go on to present their work at national conferences and/or submit a manuscript for publishing with a medical journal.