1. Research in the Department of Surgery Core Program August 5th 2009

2. Introduction Catherine Gill Pottruff Research Coordinator for the Academic Department of Surgery Contact Info: 302-43 Charlton Ave E. Phone: x 35287 Email: gillc@mcmaster.ca

3. What is expected during my residency in terms of research? It is expected that you will do a minimum of 2 research projects over the 5 years Some programs have further requirements It is expected that you will present your work at least at one of our Research Days and strongly encouraged that you present at national or international meetings The privilege of sitting your exams will be denied if the minimum requirements are not met

4. What Kinds of Research? Bench Level/Cellular Level (Drs. Pinthus, Ghert, Singh and Jiang) Patient Level (Drs. Bain, Ruo, Cadeddu, Sne and Lovrics) Surgical Outcomes (Drs. Miller, Anvari, Bhandari, Thoma and Lovrics) Cutting Edge Technology (Drs. Anvari and Williams, MIU) Economic Analysis (Drs. Lamy and Thoma) Knowledge Translation (Dr. Simunovic) Surgical Education (Drs. Dath, Szalay, Matsumoto and Wong)

5. Office of Surgical Research Services (OSRS) Dr. James Bain, Associate Chair of Research Dr. Forough Farrokhyar, Biostatistician/Clin. Epidemiologist Ms. Catherine Gill Pottruff, Research Coordinator Ms. Charneal Dixon, Research Assistant Ms. Ann Kolkin, Research Admin Support for Dr. Farrokhyar Mr. Ian Burt, Accountant Ms. Sue Graci, Finance Assistant Ms. Clare Mitchell, Manager of Dept of Surgery

6. Services We Offer Formulation of the research question Methodological support Sample size calculation Budget reviews Ethics applications Funding applications Data analysis In house reviews: ethics, funding, manuscripts etc Short term research support during projects Poster design and printing arrangements

7. How do I get started? Find someone to be your supervisor Surgeon Bench Researcher Physician or Researcher in another specialty Determine what your question is Talk to Dr. Farrokhyar about your methodology Apply for some funding Apply for ethics approval Arrange for some time to do the work

8. Where can I find funding? Local Funding Opportunities Outside Funding Agencies

9. Local Funding Opportunities Dept of Surgery Research Advisory Committee Residents’ Research Fund $5000/resident/project/year Can’t be used for capital equipment, computers, software or for travel Apply anytime by emailing me your cover letter, protocol, budget and budget justification

10. Local Funding Opportunities RMA Scholarships $7500/resident/year Resident must be PI Apply through the Postgrad Office Next Deadline: August 31 st 2009 http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/postgrad/documents/Awards%20 Booklet%202008.pdf

11. Local Funding Opportunities HHS New Investigators Fund $25 000/12-18 months Residents are eligible if the work occurs at an HHS site Resident must have a Co-applicant who is an experienced researcher, with peer reviewed funding and on staff at HHS 2 competitions a year: due electronically by 4 pm March 31st and October 1 st http://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/body.cfm?id=1074

12. Outside Funding Agencies Physicians’ Services Inc. Foundation $20 000/ 1 year Resident as PI Project must be developed by the resident and the resident must do the majority of the work of the project 4 competitions a year: Feb, May, Aug, Nov http://psifoundation.org/resident_research.htm

13. Outside Funding Agencies Several professional organizations have grant competitions for which residents are eligible, such as: Canadian Association of General Surgeons Canadian Society of Vascular Surgeons Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons Orthopaedic Trauma Association (US)

14. When You Apply for Funding…. The Office of Surgical Research Services is happy to review your application to make sure you have completed all the requirements, obtained all the signatures and that the application is at the standard expected by the Department We keep a running list of successful grants in the Department, and we can help you with setting up accounts etc.

15. Ethics Approval Ethics approval is required from either the Research Ethics Board (FHS-HHS or SJH) for human research or the Animal Research Ethics Board for animal work Office of Research Services can help develop consent forms, data collection sheets, complete the application forms and collect signatures

16. Ethics Approval Process All forms, deadlines and any other information you will need can be found on the McMaster webpage under HRS - Health Research Services: http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/healthresearch/ethics.html

17. Ethics Approval Process Generally the deadlines are at the end of each month, for a meeting in the 3 rd week of the next month Please make sure you use the most recent version of the forms and get all the appropriate signatures or your application will be sent back without review REB or AREB approval is necessary for release of research funding

18. Specifically…. Two Notes Regarding Ethics Applications Research projects involving data collection from office or hospital charts require Ethics approval and completion of the online McMaster Privacy Tutorial http://ethics.mcmaster.ca/chart/ As of Dec 31/08, all researchers doing clinical trials at SJH are required to show proof of Good Clinical Practice training as part of the REB application (HHS/FHS does not require this yet, but they will in the near future)

19. Specifically…. One More Regarding Animal Work Central Animal Facility requires all researchers using animals to complete the basic orientation as well as other training courses as required for your work Animal Handling Gaseous and Injectable Anesthetics for Animals Blood collection CAF has a Veterinarian and Veterinary Pathologist on staff to assist in the planning of your project, and Veterinary Technologists available to assist if required

20. When can I do my research? You can arrange to have protected research time either in a 3 month block or on a weekly basis for a period of time Please talk to your Program Director if you want to do this PGY-2s can use the Core Program Research Seminar time as protected time

21. Things to Remember Once your project is complete, it isn’t over: Write it up and submit it for publication Submit abstracts to national and international meetings for oral or poster presentation (travel funding is available from the Department – ask your Program Coordinator for more information) Apply for prizes!

22. Prizes?! Royal College has yearly Canadian Research Awards for Specialty Residents, $2000 PSI Foundation Prizes for Resident Research, 5x$2000, top paper gets an additional $1000 Quality Assurance Awards, 5x$1000, for best work in quality assurance All are for completed research only

23. Upcoming Research Events Divisional Residents’ Research Days 2009 Plastic Surgery-Sept 11 th Orthopaedics-Oct 2 nd General Surgery-Oct 9th Otolaryngology-Oct 21 st Neurosciences-Oct 30 th Department Annual Residents’ Research Conference 2009 Wednesday November 11 th

24. PGY-2 Research Mornings January 13 th and June 2 nd 2010 Purpose: For the PGY-2s to gain experience in presenting and feedback on projects in development Can be a proposal, a work in progress or a completed project PGY-1s, senior residents and faculty will be invited to provide constructive criticism to the presenters List of presenters for each date will be available in late September

25. In Conclusion…. When you are thinking about doing research projects: Keep in mind all the prep work that goes into a project and have an appropriate timeline The Office of Surgical Research Services can help make your project outstanding http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/surgery/research.html