Research in Pediatrics
The research program is fully integrated as part of the academic goal of the department. This means that all divisions are involved in research education and the supervision of residency research.
Research literacy is part of being a SCHOLAR, based on CanMEDS roles of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Other critical concepts are lifelong learning/Continuing Professional Development, critical appraisal and teaching others (*).
Our research curriculum for residents will encompass all of these core concepts.
Physicians are expected to contribute to the creation, dissemination, application and translation of new knowledge and practices. This can be done by describing the principles of research and scholarly inquiry, describing the principles of research ethics, posing a scholarly question and conducting a systematic search for evidence, selecting and applying appropriate methods to address the question and finally disseminating the findings of a study (*).
All residents are required to either:
- Present their final research project (including results and analysis) at Celebrate Research Day (CRD) or at a National or International conference.
- Submit a manuscript ready for submission to a peer-reviewed journal, after sign-off of their faculty mentor and advise the Research & Scholarly Activities Program Assistant once it has been submitted or published/accepted for publication in the scientific literature and provide a copy to the Research and Scholarly Activities Program Assistant.
Part of the objectives of training in pediatrics as determined by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada is for residents to acquire a working knowledge of the theoretical basis of the specialty, including its foundations in the basic medical sciences and research. It is also important to be able to describe the principles of research, research ethics and scholarly inquiry. Part of promoting the field of pediatrics includes the conduct of research.
(*) Frank, JR. (Ed). 2005. The CanMEDS 2005 physician competency framework. Better standards. Better physicians. Better care. Ottawa: The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Scholarly Activities for Residents
Residents are engaged in the following Scholarly Activities: writing and submitting conference abstracts, oral and poster presentations, publication of articles and abstracts in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Residents also gain new knowledge through attending workshops, seminars and special presentations by visiting professors with expertise in their field.
The Department of Pediatrics and its divisions place importance on understanding the principles of evidence-based medicine and the ability to understand and critically appraise the medical literature. These skills are used during each rotation as underlying principles of discussion of patient problems. Within their Research Academic Half Day series and the Journal Club, residents learn epidemiology concepts, critical literature appraisal, and are offered faculty mentorship for resident teaching and coaching.
All PGY-1 residents are required to take the formal education component of the Pediatric Research Curriculum in their AHD’s. The research course usually starts in September and continues in February to April of the first year of residency. By the end of December of the first year, all PGY-1 residents should have secured a mentor and a topic for their residency research project.
Residents may apply for a research month elective during their residency program in PGY-2, -3 or -4 years. This provides residents with the flexibility to continue their research in a focused way and should provide detailed description of their research work.
Research as a Career
Residents seeking to develop a research career may apply to take a full year of research within the program.
In addition, UBC offers other opportunities such as a Masters of Health Science degree (http://spph.ubc.ca/programs/mhsc) and the FRCPC approved Clinician Investigator Program (https://cip.med.ubc.ca/).