Rymer Medical Education Research Grant

• Background
• Specific Aims
• Methods
• Anticipated Outcomes

Write 2-3 specific aims/objectives. Consider using SMART goals framework.  

Please include a concise review of the medical education literature that provides the framework for your study.  The literature review should clearly identify what is already known and what gap this project will fill. Highlight the reason(s) your project is important to CU SOM learners and how the learnings will be of relevance to the larger, external medical education community. In this section, you can also include pilot data, if relevant.  Be sure to include your research question succinctly stated and your hypothesized outcomes. Keep this section to 1-2 pages. 

Describe your methods in detail including the setting, participants, recruitment (if applicable), educational intervention, comparison group, and evaluation plan.  If you are doing an educational intervention, such as a curriculum, explain the instructional strategies that will be used.  Research projects should include planned statistical analysis and power calculations.  Be sure to include how you will evaluate the outcomes of your project.  Approaches can include surveys, focus groups or interviews, knowledge, or skills tests, etc. Pay attention to the alignment between your aims and objectives and the design and evaluation approach. Consider including a section on possible barriers and how you will overcome them.

Include details regarding plans for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and steps you will take to avoid coercion and preserve confidentiality among all study participants.  This is particularly important if your study includes students or residents as they are considered a ‘vulnerable population.’  Be sure to be up to date on your IRB training so that there are no delays to project implementation.

Carefully consider what can be realistically accomplished within the budget and the time allocated to the project.  Provide a timeline delineating what you will do by each quarter of the project.

Briefly restate the anticipated outcome(s) from the project.

Explain in detail how the grant funds will be used. The budget should be realistic and itemized.  The grant can compensate for time (CU paid employees only), research assistants/support staff, participant remuneration, survey costs, statistical costs, and publication support. The grant will not cover travel expenses or equipment.

To complete the budget: 

1. Download the budget worksheet template and the example of a completed budget template.
   • Rymer Budget Worksheet and  Budget Example
2. Complete all categories as appropriate to your project. The cells will auto-calculate a total. If you do not need a category (e.g., equipment), leave it blank. If you have questions, contact your department finance grant lead. 
3. Save your budget on your computer. 
4. When you are ready to complete the application online, answer the questions as prompted until you reach the budget page. Then, upload the file to the online application form. 

*Rymer grants do not cover: travel, conference fees, equipment, or personal professional development (e.g. course fees).

*Funds used to cover FTE will also include the cost of benefits. FTE will only be provided for CU SOM paid faculty.

Please obtain and submit a letter of support from a relevant education leader such as a program director, associate dean, department/division education chair, or medical school curriculum leader if using existing CU SOM data or resources (e.g., simulation center) or implementing a curricular innovation.  If your proposal includes FTE, please obtain a letter of support from the relevant supervisor to ensure that the time can be taken in support of the proposed project.

*Letters of support and letters of reference do not count towards the application page limitations.

Proposals will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Innovation and scholarly merit (e.g., builds on prior work, grounded in educational theory/solid principles, appropriate and clearly described methods)
• Alignment with SOM priorities
• Feasibility (e.g., realistic within timeframe, sample size, budget
• Team experience (including mentor qualifications)
• Value added to SOM and elsewhere
• Appropriateness of budget
• Clarity of writing (e.g., coherence between goals, methods, evaluation)

A: To submit a highly competitive application:

A: It is helpful to have mentor with relevant experience on your team.  If you are an experienced educator, invite a peer to act as the mentor on the project.

A: Only if the Fellow has a faculty appointment and the appropriate academic rank at the University of Colorado School of Medicine that starts when the funding starts.

A: Only the primary investigator.

Jennifer Adams, MD
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