RESEARCH TRAINING
The Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine Division of Research offers several levels of research training in emergency care research. At the medical student, resident, and fellow levels, we provide a collaborative approach to training in patient-centered emergency care. We have international experts in pragmatic clinical trials, clinical trial design, patient-oriented research transcending numerous clinical disciplines including cardiology, infectious disease, critical care, geriatrics, and healthcare delivery science.
Training by Level
Regardless of level, training in emergency care research is designed to encourage the process of scientific inquiry, development of research questions, and to design and implement methodological approach to answering research questions. Our Division offers both informal and formal training opportunities to trainees at the Medical Student, Resident, and Fellowship level as described below.
Click to learn more about the VISTA NHLBI T32 Training Program, a new opportunity available for postdoctoral investigators focused on mentorship and jumpstarting careers as an independent scientist.
Residents
Resident research projects are developed with their professional and goals in mind recognizing that they do not have the same amount of time to dedicate to research that individuals at other career stages. Projects meet the ACGME’s scholarship requirement and depending on the project and interest, can be submitted for regional and national meetings and/or to a peer-reviewed journal. Prior projects have been funded by the Emergency Medicine Foundation.
Examples:
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Co-detection of SARS-CoV-2 with Secondary Respiratory Pathogen Infections
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Quality of physician care coordination during inter-facility transfer for cardiac arrest patients
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Emergency department provider and facility variation in opioid prescriptions for discharged patients
Fellows
Mentored research fellowships are available to individuals who desire a career in emergency care research. The goal of the research fellowship is to prepare fellows for a career as an independent investigator in clinical and translational research. While housed in the Division of Emergency Medicine research, our Division is highly collaborative and has trained fellows from emergency medicine, critical care, cardiology, nursing, and health policy backgrounds. Individuals are considered on a case-by-case basis as each experience is highly customized to each investigator. Historically, fellowships have been two-years and combine both didactic and experiential learning with 75% protected time for research. Most fellows have earned either a Master in Public Health (MPH) through Vanderbilt University or a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation through Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Individuals interested in a mentored research fellowship should reach out to the Division Director, Dr. Wesley Self, to discuss further.
Examples:
Undergraduates
Experiences at the undergraduate level vary in their availability, timing, and mentoring.
Immersion in Emergency Care Research is a Fall semester course offered intermittently to Medicine, Health, and Society undergraduate and graduate students. It addresses the fundamentals of emergency care delivery and clinical research. The course provides: 1) exposure to emergency medicine through classroom didactics, and, 2) an extensive bedside, hands-on clinical research experience. Click here to read our publication about the course in BMC Medical Education.
Lead Instructor : Alan Storrow, MD.
In addition, formal Summer opportunities exist at Vanderbilt and provide funding, while offering a structured program for a student considering a career in healthcare, research, and/or medicine. Below are two potential Summer options.
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Undergraduate Clinical Research Internship Program (UCRIP) which gives college students earning a four-year degree the opportunity to participate in both research and clinical patient care at an academic medical center. This program is designed for students who are interested in a career in medicine.
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Summer Research Internship Program in Biomedical Informatics – Directed by Kim Unertl, PhD, designed to provide students from diverse backgrounds with a high-quality Biomedical Informatics research experience; thereby encouraging students to consider pursuing PhDs and research careers in the field.
Examples (click links to view papers):
Medical Students
Mentored experience through Vanderbilt’s PLAN and Research Immersion courses that starts in a medical student’s 2nd year with development of a project and includes a 1 month PLAN course focused on refining the student’s research question. The program includes a 3-month dedicated research experience typically in the late Fall/early Winter. Projects can typically be adapted and extended to further meet the quality improvement (QI) requirements of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Prior research projects have been funded by the Emergency Medicine Foundation and published as co- and first author roles.
Examples (click links to view papers):