Research

The Adolescent Medicine fellowship uses the following combination of didactic and experiential learning over the course of a three-year fellowship to provide trainees with a solid foundation in research methods that prepares them for an academic career in Adolescent Medicine.

Research Orientation

During fellowship orientation, fellows complete the Children’s Mercy Research Orientation. This provides fellows with an overview of the research supports at Children’s Mercy, administrative oversight of research conducted at Children’s Mercy, and training requirements that must be completed for a fellow to participate in research studies at Children’s Mercy.

Scholarly Activity

Fellows are expected to complete a scholarly project during their fellowship, with the intent to present the project at a national meeting and at the local Children’s Mercy Annual Resident/Fellow Research Days. This scholarly work may be in one of a variety of areas including bioethics, clinical research, translational research, education, or quality improvement.

Selection of Scholarly Oversight Committee (SOC)

After completing General Pediatrics Boards in October, the fellow selects a staff member from the Adolescent Medicine Division to be the Chair of their Scholarly Oversight Committee (SOC). This staff member helps the fellow develop a topic area for a research project, refine the research question, connect with institutional resources to facilitate the project, and assist with selection of the other members of the SOC. The SOC meets regularly with the fellow to provide support, mentoring, and feedback as the fellow designs and implements the project

Protocol Development

In addition to working with the SOC to complete the protocol for their research project, the fellow is also encouraged to access support (including biostatistical consultation, software design, database management, and editing) from the Children’s Research Institute at Children’s Mercy as needed. (Resources for Researchers). The fellow is expected to have an IRB protocol and research grant approved by their SOC and ready for submission by September of the second year of fellowship.

The Children's Mercy Research Institute supports a large number of basic-science, translational and clinical research projects. 

Research Project Completion and Dissemination

The fellow is expected to have completed the IRB approval process by December of the second year of fellowship and begun data collection on his or her project. Data collection and preliminary

analyses should be complete by August of the third year of fellowship, so the fellow can prepare and submit an abstract for presentation at the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine Annual Meeting. If this is not possible then submission to the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting in January of the third year is an acceptable alternative. A manuscript suitable for publication and approved by the fellow’s SOC must be submitted prior to the end of April of the third year of fellowship. The fellow is expected to submit the paper for publication in a peer reviewed journal.

Biostatistics Training

Fellows will be required to obtain training in biostatistics as part of fellowship. This can be accomplished through the annual biostatistics course offered by Children’s Mercy or in the context of one to the graduate programs listed below.

Problem Solving for Fellows and QA/QI Project

Improvement Academy is a participative learning experience at Children's Mercy designed to allow fellows to develop an A3 mindset for problem solving. This course will teach fellows a framework for problem solving that will help fellows remain current and continuously improve their practice. In addition, this course will help fellows increase not only the quality but quantity of the care they provide. In order to graduate, fellows will be required to attend a one-day Problem Solving Basics course over the summer between 1^st and 2^nd year of fellowship, develop a multidisciplinary team to address a problem they identify, attend a series of coaching sessions with an experienced QA/QI mentor in order to solve a local problem over the course of the 2^nd year of fellowship, and provide a write up of the QA/QI initiative prior to April of the third year of fellowship, suitable for submission for MOC credit.

Grant Writing Boot Camp

Fellows may participate in a grant writing workshop series sponsored by Children’s Mercy. Fellows are paired with an experienced faculty mentor to write a grant to support a future research project. After completing this boot camp, fellows can apply for intramural or extramural support for their project. Fellows with well-developed research interests who feel they may need funding for their fellowship project can take this course during the first year of fellowship. Alternatively, fellows can take this course during the last year of fellowship to obtain assistance with faculty development grants or research projects sparked by the fellowship experience.

Graduate Certificate/Degree Opportunities 

Graduate Certificate in Clinical Research

Fellows may obtain a graduate certificate in clinical research from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine. The certificate curriculum includes 15 credit hours of required coursework from the Master of Science in Bioinformatics Clinical Research Emphasis curriculum. The courses are:

· Applied Biostatistics I

· Clinical Research Methodology

· Principals and Applications of Epidemiology

· Clinical Trials

· Overview of Health Services Research

Please see the UMKC website for more information: https://med.umkc.edu/gc-clinical-research/

Masters of Science in Bioinformatics Clinical Research Emphasis 

Fellows who wish to complete the Master's degree program complete the above courses in addition to the following:

· Applied Biostatistics II

· Introduction to Medical Informatics

· Responsible Conduct of Research

There is also a capstone project requirement for completion of the Master of Science degree. Please see the UMKC website for more information: https://med.umkc.edu/msb/curriculum/

Graduate Certificate in Health Professions Education

For fellows who anticipate a future in medical education instead of research, they can obtain a graduate certificate in Health Professions Education from the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine. This certificate curriculum includes 18 credit hours of required coursework from the Master of Health Professions Education curriculum. The courses are:

· Current Issues in Health Professions Education

· Assessment in Health Professions Education

· Principles and Methods of Research

· Teaching in Health Professions Education

· Curriculum Design in Health Professions Education

· Program Evaluation in Health Professions Education

Please see the UMKC website for more information: https://med.umkc.edu/gchpe/curriculum/ 

Masters of Health Professionals Education

Fellows who wish to complete the Master of Health Professions Education degree take the classes listed above for the graduate certificate in addition to the following classes:

· Leadership and Administration in Health Professions Education

· Learning Portfolio in Health Professions Education

· And three of the following elective courses:

o Applied Biostatistics I

o Applied Biostatistics II

o Simulation in Health Professions Education

o Curriculum and Instruction in Technology

o Implementation Science in Health

Please see the UMKC website for more information: https://med.umkc.edu/mhpe/curriculum/