Resident Research Timeline

Resident Research – The Research Proposal

The completion of a research proposal is a requirement for promotion to the PGY-2 year. The preparation of this proposal will be mentored by a faculty member or staff member with assistance provided by Dr. Warden, Research Director, Dr. Yi, Biostatistician and the anesthesia librarian, Kristen Romme. Together, these people help facilitate the one-on-one and small group learning experience of the Discipline’s Resident Research component. 

PGY-1

July

  • Residents will attend Introduction to Research, a two-half day course where they learn, among other things, the basics of how to prepare a research proposal.

October 1

  • Residents to submit a statement of research area, topic, purpose, research questions and/or hypothesis and key terms (see Form 1, Research Questions Phase). These statements will be promptly reviewed and evaluated by the Anesthesia Research Committee (ARC).  Proposed research should be relevant to the field of anesthesia, understood broadly. 

December 1

  • Residents should have a draft literature review statement by this time. (See Form 2, Literature Review for guidance). Be mindful that reviewing literature is often time-consuming and involves a dynamic process involving other parts of the proposal formation. A polished version of this literature review will eventually be included in your final research proposals. 

March 1 

  • Residents to submit to the Anesthesia Research Committee (ARC) for evaluation and feedback draft statements of their:
    • Conceptual framework, theory, hypothesis
    • The proposed literature review
    • Methods
    • Ethical considerations
  • Keep in mind: all the above statements will likely require refinement and development before they can be included in the final draft of the Research Proposal.  (See Form 3 for guidance). 

April

  • At this point, residents should be able to compile a budget for their proposed research, as well, an estimated timeframe to research completion. The anesthesia discipline can provide up to $3000 to cover research related materials.  More funding could be made available in exceptional cases.

May

  • Residents are to submit their completed Research Proposals to the ARC for evaluation and approval. Later in the month, pending revisions that may be suggested by the ARC, residents will present their research proposals at the Annual Residents’ Research Day, usually held sometime in May.
  • Resident researchers, by now, should have made themselves familiar with various sources of grant money (and the various deadlines) that are available to them, for example, the Canadian Anesthesia Society’s Residents’ Research Grant and the Clinician Investigator Trainee Association of Canada Resident Research Prize. See the Discipline of Anesthesia’s website for information on grants and deadlines. The completed research proposal prepares you well to make grant applications.

June 1

  • On approval by the ARC, in most cases, resident research projects must be approved by the Health Research Ethics Authority before any data gathering begins. Residents have to submit their research proposals and the appropriate application for ethical review.  For information on the ethical review process, go to: http://www.hrea.ca. A well written, thoughtful and organized research proposal facilitates obtaining ethical review approval without hassles and in a timely manner.  
  • Note: Throughout the research proposal formation, residents should consult with: 
    • Mentors and Supervisors
    • Dr. Geoff Warden, Research Director
    • Dr. Yi Yanqing, Biostatistician
    • Dr. Reza Tabrizchi, Scientific Investigation
    • Kristen Romme, Anesthesia Librarian
    • Any knowledgeable people in their are of interest including their peers

PGY-2

July 1

  • Once your research proposal is approved by the Anesthesia Research Committee (ARC) and, where necessary, by the Health Research Ethics Authority (and any other research ethics boards that you may need approval), the required section of the Resident Research is complete. You are not obligated to continue with your proposed research after this point. 
  • If you do decide to continue, and we hope you do, you may now start the data collection stage of your research. 
  • We encourage residents who are unable to or do not wish to follow through on their research proposals, to seek other opportunities to engage in research while in the rest of their residency.

December 

  • For those residents who do decide to follow through on their research projects we suggest you submit written progress reports to the ARC every 4 or 6 months. This is so we can provide comments and suggestions to you.
  • For those residents who decide to engage in any extracurricular research activity, we highly recommend you maintain regular contact with the ARC and inform them of your work. 

May

  •  We expect residents who are actively engaged in research to make brief work-in-progress reports every year on Resident Research Day. A final presentation of the completed research project is also expected on the first Resident Research Day following research completion.  Resident Research Days are usually in May each year.  These oral reports are intended to provide resident researchers with opportunities to receive constructive feedback and gain experience with group presentations. 

PGY-3 and PGY-4

  • It is highly recommended that residents complete their research projects by the end of PGY-4. The Discipline of Anesthesia will provide financial support to cover the fees, travel and accommodations for residents who wish to present their completed work at such as conferences of the Canadian Anesthesia Society or American Society of Anesthesiologists, or any other conference of their choice, up until the end of their residency. 

  • The ARC suggests that residents submit a final research report to them sometime during PGY-3 and PGY-4 in order they can suggest how this can be made into a manuscript for publication, as well as provide support for getting your research published.

  • The Discipline of Anesthesia will provide funding to cover expenses to any resident who wishes to present their completed research project at a national or international conference.