First-Year Clinical Scholarship Program

Program Overview

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The Clinical Scholarship Program, co-directed by James Rodrigue, PhD, and Marc Schermerhorn, MD, pairs all first-year categorical general surgery residents with a faculty research mentor. This partnership guides residents through the year as they develop and implement a clinical research project.

Residents receive one month of protected time during the latter half of their first year to focus on their projects. The program aims to provide a solid foundation for scholarship early in their training, boost academic productivity, and enhance competitiveness for national grants. By integrating this experience early in their training, we aim to nurture residents' interests in scholarship, research, and academic careers.

Program Objectives

  1. Establish a strong foundation for scholarly activity.
  2. Boost academic productivity.
  3. Improve residents' competitiveness for national grants.

Resident Learning Objectives

  • Recognize the importance of scholarly activity.
  • Gain knowledge of fundamental study design and clinical research methodology.
  • Familiarize with institutional and national clinical databases.
  • Apply basic statistical methods for research data analysis.
  • Understand the ethical issues in clinical research.
  • Learn about the protection of human research participants.
  • Navigate the IRB application process and submission requirements.
  • Disseminate research findings to the broader scientific community.

Structure

  • Available to all categorical general surgery residents.
  • Residents select a primary research mentor (preference for junior faculty).
  • Develop and implement a research project.
  • Meet at least monthly with the primary research mentor.
  • Complete a one-month rotation during the latter part of the intern year to finish the project.
  • Prepare and submit an abstract for conference presentation.
  • Prepare and submit a manuscript for publication.

Curriculum

  • Participate in monthly Surgical Outcomes Club meetings.
  • Attend didactic presentations on five core research competencies: Study Design, Biostatistics, Communicating Research, Ethics and Regulatory Issues, and Grant Writing.
  • Option to attend a two-week Clinical Research course offered by the Department of Medicine in January.