Dirty Little Secret: I Never Did Research

[SmilingPolitely]

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I orginially posted this on the Research/Publishing forums but haven't gotten any heat on there. Hoping on a more high volume subforum, I can get some more recommendations.

Thanks.

OP:
I am just wrapping up my Intern year and I have been harboring this terrible secret.

I don't know what the hell I am doing when it comes to research.

I have so far snuck around on good looks, personality, and damn good scores...

Problem now is that my program's new "focus" is getting publications.
I just don't even know where to begin. I have jokingly mentioned my complete lack of where to begin to some of my fellow residents and a few attendings, and I have been met with a "don't worry, I am sure you'll get it... just think back to what you did in undergrad, etc.".
Except.. I never did anything in undergrad either. And every time I start, I waste hours looking around the internet getting questionable advice.

It seems like there is advice everywhere on the internet for medstud, residents, etc. on everything except how to get comfortable with research. I kinda feel like I am drowning..

My hospitals "research department" is a joke and may have been the least helpful/angriest group of people I ever met. They can only "help me" when I submit something.


Any good resources you can recommend? Any suggestions at all.
Thanks!

Update:
Since I am an intern they are pushing for a progression for us ... case reports at first and then a progression all the way up to a full on prospec randomized blinded study.

The attendings are already starting to clamour about the latter.. I mean I coukd probably stumble my way through a case report (if an interesting case would fall into my lap already).. but past that I am going to struggle.

 

[Dejavu]

I orginially posted this on the Research/Publishing forums but haven't gotten any heat on there. Hoping on a more high volume subforum, I can get some more recommendations.

Thanks.

OP:
I am just wrapping up my Intern year and I have been harboring this terrible secret.

I don't know what the hell I am doing when it comes to research.

I have so far snuck around on good looks, personality, and damn good scores...

Problem now is that my program's new "focus" is getting publications.
I just don't even know where to begin. I have jokingly mentioned my complete lack of where to begin to some of my fellow residents and a few attendings, and I have been met with a "don't worry, I am sure you'll get it... just think back to what you did in undergrad, etc.".
Except.. I never did anything in undergrad either. And every time I start, I waste hours looking around the internet getting questionable advice.

It seems like there is advice everywhere on the internet for medstud, residents, etc. on everything except how to get comfortable with research. I kinda feel like I am drowning..

My hospitals "research department" is a joke and may have been the least helpful/angriest group of people I ever met. They can only "help me" when I submit something.


Any good resources you can recommend? Any suggestions at all.
Thanks!

Update:
Since I am an intern they are pushing for a progression for us ... case reports at first and then a progression all the way up to a full on prospec randomized blinded study.

The attendings are already starting to clamour about the latter.. I mean I coukd probably stumble my way through a case report (if an interesting case would fall into my lap already).. but past that I am going to struggle.

I am going to be of no help what so ever other than to say...

I thought I was the only one.

I have now, and always have had, exactly zero interest in research. I am sorry I cannot help you, but I am approaching the end of my career and am in a race with one of my colleagues to see if we can retire without being first authour of a paper. It is looking good for me.

Just know that there are others like us out there. Worker bees, non-researchers, non-administrator types. When my institution looks at the financial bottom line, I look pretty good because I am always in the ORs making money for the clinic.

 

[typhoonegator]

The design and implementation of a well-designed randomized controlled trial that actually tests a legitimate hypothesis with minimization of confounding, loss to follow-up, and investigator adherence to protocols is something people get masters degrees to learn how to do. It also costs tons of money and requires dedicated staffing and many months if not years of planning. Maybe they're talking about randomizing 10 people to different brands of Butt-Paste for a throwaway journal, but a mandate to execute an RCT during residency is either delusional or or a mistranslation. Even then you need an IRB approval, and that takes many months. Maybe your department is gearing up to be a site for a larger RCT and they want to get residents involved? That would be OK, I guess, but it really doesn't teach you how to do science -- it teaches you how to implement someone else's protocol.

I am a funded clinician-scientist. I think everyone should be exposed to research during residency if only for them to gain an appreciation for what is involved. But at the resident level, a case series, small prospective observational study for the purposes of hypothesis-generation, or retrospective analysis of someone else's cohort is about the maximum I would expect for a non-PhD. You have a full time job already.

You need a mentor who can help you find a pertinent question that needs answering, or a finding that needs to be described. Reading good journals on a frequent basis should give you ideas for experiment design, manuscript structure, and scientific writing. People tend to make the mistake of trying to ask a big question. You don't have $25 million dollars to do a multi-center RCT (that is what it costs to do it right). Pick a tiny question, and answer it effectively.

You absolutely need a mentor. Whatever experiences you had in undergrad or medical school, they aren't enough to actually execute a project. Without a PhD and years of beating your head against a wall, you need someone to show you the ropes. And I promise it isn't that hard.

 

[ssttrrbbk]

I think you'll be fine if you don't get on an RCT. There are so many other types of research and some types of research questions can't even be answered by RCT.

I have no idea what field your in but I'd think what do you find interesting. Approach someone in that department and ask if they have any research project you can help in. You are a resident and you are busy the best thing is to find someone to work with so that you can be productive with the limited time you have. One of my current projects has 5 residents, 3 med students, 2 research coordinators, and 3-4 faculty members. There isn't even a department at my residency in what I want to do so I approached other departments that overlap. If you find something your interested in it will be rewarding and you'll learn something.

You shouldn't start by designing something when you've never done research. You'd have a rough time and probably be turned off it forever... and truth is a lot of specialities require you pursue some research just to be recertified for the rest of your life. It doesn't have to be NEJM material though.

 

[Shikima]

Have you looked around in other departments and others who are doing research where you can join them? You can meet some wonderful people who are excellent mentors!

 

[Dejavu]

I don't know how you prevent it, but be careful that you don't do a lot of fieldwork/scutwork gathering data and compiling things for months, only to one day be reading a journal and see the paper out there with no mention of your name on it.

Research type friends of mine tell me stories.

 

[Perrotfish]

I don't know how you prevent it, but be careful that you don't do a lot of fieldwork/scutwork gathering data and compiling things for months, only to one day be reading a journal and see the paper out there with no mention of your name on it.

Research type friends of mine tell me stories.

The way to avoid this is to stick to small projects that can legitimately be labeled as 'your' projects. Something that you, personally, can write an IRB for. The way to spend hundreds of hours on a project and not be mentioned on the paper is to glom on to some kind of massive multi-year/multi-center prospective trial that already has a dozen people involved in it. A small data mining project is much simpler to implement.

 

[SmilingPolitely]

Thanks everyone for the advice thus far. Trying to respond/answer everything that has been brought up thus far.

The way to avoid this is to stick to small projects that can legitimately be labeled as 'your' projects. Something that you, personally, can write an IRB for. The way to spend hundreds of hours on a project and not be mentioned on the paper is to glom on to some kind of massive multi-year/multi-center prospective trial that already has a dozen people involved in it. A small data mining project is much simpler to implement.

This quote probably best shows what I think they are looking for in their pursuit to incorporate more research.
I spoke a little more with an Attending I am close with (who also avoids research unfortunately) and our small program is looking for us to start up projects that are managable, yet meaningful and will be labeled "my" project.

Things like writing up IRB's etc. are the very things I am very unclear. Proposals etc. I have a couple things kicking around my head and I feel like they could be structured into my understanding of what research is...

It is the verbage that scares me.

 

[Guyton Killah]

lol. Angriest people!!🙂

 

[Perrotfish]

Thanks everyone for the advice thus far. Trying to respond/answer everything that has been brought up thus far.



This quote probably best shows what I think they are looking for in their pursuit to incorporate more research.
I spoke a little more with an Attending I am close with (who also avoids research unfortunately) and our small program is looking for us to start up projects that are managable, yet meaningful and will be labeled "my" project.

Things like writing up IRB's etc. are the very things I am very unclear. Proposals etc. I have a couple things kicking around my head and I feel like they could be structured into my understanding of what research is...

It is the verbage that scares me.

Don't worry, an IRB is no where near as scary as you think it is. I mean, it can be, if you are trying to test a new drug, but odds are you are going to be applying for permission to look through medical records to try and test a hypothesis based on something your hospital already did. That means you don't need to fill out most of the paperwork (you're not asking for anyone's consent, you don't anticipate any kind of risk other than the information leaking, you don't need to be all that sure your idea will work, etc). What's left is not that hard to get through.

Anyway generally the first step in this process is to request an advisor and either submit an idea for research to him/her. Someone shod be there to help you with this and check your work the first time you do it. Not saying g you can't do it alone but its a lot harder that way.

 

[SmilingPolitely]

Don't worry, an IRB is no where near as scary as you think it is. I mean, it can be, if you are trying to test a new drug, but odds are you are going to be applying for permission to look through medical records to try and test a hypothesis based on something your hospital already did. That means you don't need to fill out most of the paperwork (you're not asking for anyone's consent, you don't anticipate any kind of risk other than the information leaking, you don't need to be all that sure your idea will work, etc). What's left is not that hard to get through.

Anyway generally the first step in this process is to request an advisor and either submit an idea for research to him/her. Someone shod be there to help you with this and check your work the first time you do it. Not saying g you can't do it alone but its a lot harder that way.

Thanks again. All good infor so far.