Research

1. To leverage and expand the existing Denver Health-based fellowship to include a high-quality pre-K award research fellowship program fully integrated within the academic department of EM at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
   
2. To leverage departmental and institutional infrastructure for research training and mentorship, and activities to support fellows.
   
3. To establish a process for consistent recruitment of high-quality fellowship candidates.
   
4. To create individualized career development plans for each fellow, including specific goals for education and mentorship, and milestones for research project completion, publications, and future grant funding.
   
5. To prepare fellows with requisite skills in research methods, and effective scientific communication and collaboration for successful transition to career development funding.
   
6. To prepare fellows to successfully compete for academic faculty positions following fellowship and to successfully obtain individual K series funding.
   
7. To provide foundational training for ultimate transition to independence as an investigator.
   

The research fellowship will require a minimum of two years to complete with the option of an additional third year. The overall goals of the fellowship are to: (1) complete a research-based Master degree program; (2) fulfill additional learning objectives as outlined for the fellowship (3) complete at least one clinical research study with the fellow functioning as the PI; (4) benefit from diverse, intensive mentored, and adjunctive educational opportunities; and (5) submit at least one (but likely more) grant applications for career development or pilot grant funding.

During the two-year training period, the fellow will learn material from 15 core content areas, integrated between advanced methodological coursework, applied research, and mentorship. The core content areas include: (1) identification of an area of focus; (2) hypothesis development; (3) research design; (4) data collection; (5) data monitoring; (6) data analyses; (7) research presentation; (8) manuscript development and publication; (9) grant funding; (10) project management; (11) research ethics; (12) regulatory requirements; (13) informatics; (14) clinical and teaching skills; and (15) academic career development. As program directors, Drs. Haukoos and Ginde will be responsible for assessing and documenting the adequacy of knowledge and experience in each of the 15 areas in conjunction with the other mentors. 

As a broad overview, the learning objectives will be fulfilled through: (1) completion of the fellow’s primary research project; (2) meetings with the fellow’s mentors; (3) completion of an advanced degree in research methods; (4) presentation at local, regional, and national scientific meetings; and (5) continued clinical experience as an attending emergency physician at Denver Health Medical Center or the University of Colorado Hospital.

Several options exist for formal advanced research training in Colorado, including but not necessarily limited to the following Master degree programs: (a) Master of Science in Clinical Sciences (Graduate School and CCTSI, University of Colorado Denver); (b) Master of Science in Epidemiology (Department of Epidemiology, CSPH); (c) Master of Science in Health Services Research (Department of Health Systems, Management, and Policy, CSPH); and (d) Master of Public Health with 14 different areas of concentration (e.g., epidemiology, biostatistics, global health, health services research, health systems, management, and policy) (Colorado School of Public Health).

Fellows will matriculate into one of the Master-level programs at the outset of the fellowship. If a fellow already has an advanced research degree, formal matriculation into a degree-granting program may be replaced with selected coursework to augment prior training. Fellows may also elect to matriculate into doctoral programs in epidemiology, clinical sciences, or health services research with the intention of completing coursework during the fellowship but completing the dissertation portion after fellowship; a doctoral degree is not a requirement of the fellowship. Dr. Haukoos (Program Co-Director) has appointments in the Department of Epidemiology, CSPH, as well as the Clinical Sciences Graduate Program, University of Colorado Denver; Dr. Ginde (Program Co-Director) has an appointment in the Department of Epidemiology, CSPH; and both will facilitate fellow integration into the programs.

Each fellow will be embedded in a mentorship team specifically tailored to his or her career development needs and scientific interests. Each team will consist of individuals with extensive experience successfully mentoring early-stage investigators, but with complimentary expertise. Fellows will be paired with a primary mentor and two to four additional mentors who will focus specifically on career development, the fellow’s content area, and research methods. Under the direction of Drs. Haukoos and Ginde, the Colorado EM Clinical Research Fellowship has been organized into two distinct, but complementary, mentorship platforms, including Academic & Career Development Mentorship and Scientific & Research Methods Mentorship.

Primary Research Project

Using the fellow’s specific content area interests, our fellowship team will leverage the strengths described above to develop a scientifically sound primary research project for each fellow, to be completed during the two-year fellowship period with the fellow serving as the PI. He or she will be responsible for oversight, planning, enrollment, data collection and management, analyses, and reporting in conjunction with his or her mentorship team and other ancillary research support staff, as needed. In general, three specific aims will be used to frame the project with the added goal of using the project as substrate for early grant submissions (see Section 4.2.). The research project will also be specifically planned with thought towards a future K-series career development award application. We anticipate the primary fellowship project resulting in several scientific abstracts and peer-reviewed publications.

Secondary Research Projects

During the fellowship period, each fellow will also participate in several secondary research projects, specifically and strategically selected by the fellow’s primary mentor to augment the fellow’s training. Acquisition of applied research skills is a critical driver of research success; as such, in close conjunction with the fellow’s mentors, each fellow will actively participate in additional projects, including methodological consultation, data management, statistical analyses, and reporting in both abstract and publication form, to strategically supplement his or her research development. This approach will not only provide an extended applied learning experience for the fellow but will also accelerate his or her publication track record, with multiple publications expected by the end of fellowship.

Regular educational and mentor meetings will be an integral component of the fellowship training program. These meetings will be held for the duration of the fellowship to provide ongoing instruction in the fundamentals of research and to ensure that the study and fellowship training objectives are achieved in a timely fashion. The fellow will actively participate in all aspects of these meetings as a facilitator and presenter. These meetings and educational opportunities will include: (1) weekly meetings with the fellow’s primary mentor; (2) weekly research administrative meetings; (3) monthly meetings with the Career Development Team; (4) monthly meetings with secondary mentors; (5) monthly EM-STIM meetings; and (6) a variety of seminars provided by the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI), collaborative study group meetings, and national emergency medicine research groups and conferences.

Weekly meetings with the fellow’s primary mentor and monthly or twice-monthly meetings with the fellowship director (if not the primary mentor as well) will be held both to monitor study progress and to provide ongoing mentorship and instruction in the fundamentals of all phases of the research process, including data collection, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation, and overall study management. The educational program for the fellow will encompass both formal training in research design and methods and mentored departmental, institutional, regional and national research and educational opportunities. This multi-faceted approach is intended to afford each fellow with comprehensive education in the fundamentals of research design and methods, and to provide the skills necessary to succeed as an independently-funded scientist.

Led by the fellowship program directors, a selection committee will be formed that consists of members of the core fellowship faculty as well as key scientific representatives, depending on the candidate’s area of interest. The selection committee will have the responsibility of identifying and selecting applicants for entry into the program with fellows being selected primarily on the basis of their research potential with the overarching goal of recruiting individuals who will ultimately progress to independence as scientists. Only candidates who demonstrate a strong commitment to conducting scientific investigation as a primary component of their careers will be considered. In doing so, individuals successful in gaining entrance into the fellowship will have to identify a research focus area from one of the content areas within the department, as described in this application. The committee will emphasize individuals who have a high likelihood of success and as a future independently-funded scientist, and the need for structured career development support based on the individual’s past training experiences. While it is very difficult to predict future success, a solid record of past accomplishment (including a publication record) and an independently endorsed desire for an academic research career will be key elements in selecting fellows.

Applications for entry into the fellowship will be solicited locally and nationally from individuals within EM. A strategy for attracting candidates from outside our institution will occur through aggressive regional and national advertising. Fellow positions may also be advertised in Annals of Emergency Medicine, Academic Emergency Medicine, and one or more general medical journals with the goal of expanding the pool of potential candidates. The fellowship will also be advertised through SAEM’s fellowship directory. Furthermore, direct solicitation of applications, by personal letters and communications, from directors of training programs and departmental Chairs will be performed.

Fellows will be required to hold a doctoral degree (i.e. M.D., D.O., or Ph.D.), and those with clinical-based doctoral degrees, will have to have completed an MD or DO-approved ACGME residency training program. Therefore, fellows will include predominantly individuals emerging from residency training although early-stage faculty (i.e. within the first two years of a faculty appointment) may also be considered. In addition, non-clinical scientists (i.e. Ph.D.) entering the postdoctoral phase of their development will also be considered, although it is recognized that these individuals do not necessarily meet qualifications outlined by SAEM; if this scenario occurs, Drs. Haukoos and Ginde will request approval, on a case-by-case basis, from SAEM. Also, all fellows will register and maintain active membership with SAEM for the duration of the fellowship.

1. Apply online by October 1, including:
   1. CV
   2. Personal statement
   3. Two letters of recommendation
2. Phone interview with Fellowship Director or core faculty
3. In-person interviews will be held on October 20, 2020

CCTSI: https://cctsi.cuanschutz.edu/

Research portal: https://research.cuanschutz.edu/

ACCORDS: https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/accords

Library: https://library.cuanschutz.edu/

EM-STIM: https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/emergency-medicine/research/em-stim

MS in Clinical Sciences: https://cctsi.cuanschutz.edu/training/clsc

MPH: https://coloradosph.cuanschutz.edu/education/degrees-and-programs/master-of-public-health

CFSP: https://cctsi.cuanschutz.edu/training/cfsp