Research Overview

All residents, especially those interested in applying for subspecialty fellowships, are encouraged to pursue some form of research. We work with residents to facilitate the identification of a research mentor in their subspecialty of interest by the end of the intern year. There are opportunities to schedule elective time for research on a monthly basis during the second and third years. Residents have the opportunity to conduct their projects in affiliation with the NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at University of Colorado Hospital. The GCRC provides support for research procedures and nursing care, along with protocol design, statistical analysis, and safety monitoring.

The goal of the Resident Research Program is to support housestaff who have a research background or specific research interests and to prepare them for rewarding academic careers in Translational Research, Clinical Research and/or Health Services Research. This is accomplished by first providing excellent clinical training and then by offering well defined research opportunities and education with a specifically tailored schedule. Residents will receive guidance during the entire career development period which starts with clinical and research training and concludes with support in securing excellent fellowship positions.

Residents interested in a research career are identified during the first year of training. Interested residents are guided by their Internal Medicine Program and a member of the Residency Research Committee to identify a mentor with whom to conduct their research. In addition to their protected blocks of research time, research-focused residents participate in a research educational series which includes topics such as:

• Clinical research ethics/human subjects protection compliance
• Regulatory processes and relationships with the pharmaceutical industry in research (includes conflict of interest)
• Basic biostatistics
• Introduction to Research – what it is, how to do it and how to determine a career path
• Basic pharmacology
• Basic epidemiology and clinical trial design

Some residents in the Research Track may elect to pursue the American Board of Internal Medicine Research Pathway to certification (“short-tracking”), in which two years of core residency training are followed by subspecialty training and research. Residents interested in the short-track training should identify themselves within or before mid-internship year.

8/8/07