Resident Scholarly Project:

SUGGESTED CRITERIA FOR THE RESIDENT SCHOLARLY PROJECT/LECTURES

A) When in residency? 2 lecture presentations over the three years. One to be given in the second half of the first year; the other to be given in the first half of the third year.
OR
B) A research project whose question and design will be discussed starting in the first or early second year and completed before the end of residency. Depending upon complexity, this will substitute for either one or both of the Scholarly Lectures.

Goals:

1. Meet AAFP and RRC mandates for training in scholarly work or research in residency.
2. For a research project, allow resident to pursue a question of interest, design a research project, obtain support/funding, implement the project, analyze results, and find a forum to present the findings. Optimally, results will be submitted for publication.
3. For the scholarly lectures, residents will learn to research a focused question or topic of interest (merely re-presenting a previously researched and published question, such as that found in the Cochrane database, is not sufficient), find the best evidence to answer the question using good EBM and medical informatics techniques, present the topic and conclusions, and provide a “product” that will benefit fellow residents and faculty.

Scholarly Lecture Series

1. Case based (Suggested but not required). Preferably case-based or related to a question that came up in patient care/practice.
2. Relevant: Meet our JC Relevance criteria (relatively common, or important “not miss”, important to our patients, potential for changing practice or settling a controversial issue of practice.
3. Time demands: Estimated preparation time 8-12 hours.
4. Products:
   1. Presentation in Power Point. Power point presentation, such that could be used in another venue (?Grand rounds, All-staff, etc) and also potentially usable for Palm notes.
   2. “Palm” products for future reference: useful data tables, calculators, important websites/links etc that allow rapid acquisition and the use of the information from the program. (Long lists from textbooks are to be discouraged unless REALLY useful).
   3. Keep available on Website for future references.
5. Topic: Either an evidence-based search to answer a specific researchable question, or evidence-based review of a very focused topic. The topic will require discussion with and pre-approval by the residents’ advisor. Although all topics are “fair game,” topics in Pediatrics, Geriatrics/Nursing Home, and Obstetrics are especially encouraged since we now have many fewer resident lectures in these topics.
6. Timing:
   1. Decide topic by no later than 6-8 weeks in advance of scheduled date of talk, review with advisor for approval. Care should be taken not to repeat a topic given in the Wed Lecture conferences in the prior 18 months unless significant new information is available. Advisor will initial/date this discussion. Dr. Douglas is also available/willing to help in refining a question/topic.
   2. General outline of the presentation should be ready by 1-2 weeks before the scheduled presentation date, and reviewed with advisor. (To encourage quality data, permit trimming of talk, add suggestions, and to prevent lower-quality last-minute efforts).
7. Conclusions, sorted by quality of evidence. This is where the real power of such a presentation lies. It will be very helpful to summarize which conclusions/recommendations are supported by high quality evidence, and which are not. Using the now-standard format of “Level of Evidence” rating (I-III) and “Level of Evidence” ratings is preferred (these available from Dr. Douglas).
8. Bibliography: 5-10 (max) articles to include the most helpful, most important/convincing studies. (“Review” paper citings are to be discouraged unless specifically evidence based summaries like the Cochrane Reviews as one support for a significant conclusion)
9. Evaluation: Under discussion: residents may receive feedback from faculty/residents about the quality and usefulness of their presentations
10. Faculty support: Residents should review their topic choice 6-8 weeks ahead of time with their advisor or with Dr. Douglas. The resident should have a clear idea of the general outline of the talk and suggested conclusions by two weeks before the presentation. Dr. Douglas is available for support of the project at any stage (finding a question, creating search terms, sorting through literature, slide preparation, rating evidence, etc.).