Residency Research
Welcome from the Program Directors
The need for a productive, rewarding research experience during residency and fellowship training is now endorsed by accreditation bodies such as the ABIM and ACGME, the teaching faculty, and most importantly, those in post-graduate training. The Wake Forest University School of Medicine Internal Medicine residency program is designed to enable easy entrée into a carefully designed menu of research projects that are of interest and of relevance to a physician’s medical education. The majority of Internal Medicine residents take advantage of this opportunity and participate in a research project sometime during their three year residency. The Tinsley R. Harrison Program is designed to offer a more in-depth research experience for residents who are considering academic careers as physician scientists. Residents selected for the program are provided with a two month block during the HO-II year to conduct their project with an additional month available in the HO-III year. Although not an absolute requirement, previous research experience is of value.
Interested residents receive a list of potential research mentors and projects in lab-based, clinical and health services research that cover the breadth of general and subspecialty internal medicine. The residents are guided by the Assistant Chief of Medicine for Research in selecting an appropriate mentor to match the resident’s interest. Plans regarding the nature and scope of training and the specific research project are established. During January-February of the HO-1 year, the resident, with the assistance of the selected mentor, prepares an application which is reviewed by a selection committee. Generally, four to five residents are selected to participate each year and are designated as Tinsley R. Harrison Translational Research Scholars.
The Harrison scholars are required to present their research project to Internal Medicine faculty and house staff during the IM Resident Research conference. A second requirement is a poster presentation at Internal Medicine Research Day. Most scholars also submit an abstract for presentation at an appropriate extramural meeting and often produce a manuscript for publication. Presentations and publications of this nature are a rewarding experience and enrich the opportunity of the trainee for entry into academic careers.
It is the hope of Dr. DuBose and the Internal Medicine Research Committee that the Harrison Translational Research Training Program will serve as the nidus by which we develop a new generation of physician-scientists and clinical investigators sought by the current NIH Roadmap. We are confident that this program will be able to direct the energies and talents of our young physicians to both enhance residency and fellowship training and successfully evolve our research culture at WFUHS.
Sincerely,
Richard F. Loeser, MD
The Dorothy Rhyne and Willard Duke Kimbrell Professor
Chief, Section on Molecular Medicine
David P. Miller, MD, MS
Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine