Research

Every Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program is expected to engage fellows in specific areas of scholarly activity to allow acquisition of skills in the critical analysis of the work of others; to assimilate new knowledge, concepts, and techniques related to the field of one’s practice; to formulate clear and testable questions from a body of information/data so as to be prepared to become effective subspecialists and to advance research in pediatrics; to translate ideas into written and oral forms as teachers; to serve as consultants for colleagues in other medical or scientific specialties; and to develop as leaders in their fields.

All fellows will be expected to engage in projects in which they develop hypotheses or in projects of substantive scholarly exploration and analysis that require critical thinking. Areas in which scholarly activity may be pursued include, but are not limited to: basic, clinical, or translational biomedicine; health services; quality improvement; bioethics; education; and public policy. Fellows must gather and analyze data, derive and defend conclusions, place conclusions in the context of what is known or not known about a specific area of inquiry, and present their work in oral and written form to their Scholarship Oversight Committee (see below) and elsewhere.

The Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOCS) in conjunction with the trainee, the mentor, and the program director will determine whether a specific activity is appropriate to meet the ABP guidelines for scholarly activities. In addition to biomedical research, examples of acceptable activities might include a critical meta-analysis of the literature, a systematic review of clinical practice with the scope and rigor of a Cochrane review, a critical analysis of public policy relevant to the subspecialty, or a curriculum development project with an assessment component. These activities require active participation by the fellow and must be mentored. The mentor(s) will be responsible for providing the ongoing feedback essential to the trainee’s development.

There are several areas of active research within the department, including prehospital care, international infectious diseases and emergency care, injury prevention, head injury and toxicology. Fellows have also worked with faculty in Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine and Psychiatry.