Residency Research Manual: Final Stages

Almost done; but still a lot to do!!

This can be a very exiting time but special attention also needs to be paid to the process of data entry and analyses. Information regarding this can be found under the tab "Data Entry and Statistics" in this guide.

Final Stages

PGY-3 year is for most residencies the year for completion of your research project. Timelines specific to your residency program can be found in the Section Requirements and Timelines by Specialty. This is the time for completing call, completing clinic, taking certification boards, and completing your research project! With respect to your research project, most of this year is dedicated to the continuation of the active research project, i.e. study protocol and data collection.

By the end of the first half of PGY-3 you should have written up and submitted your final research project. The material used in your research proposal and IRB approval is incorporated in this final report. You are now ready to report on your findings and to present your results to peers and colleagues. Do not forget to keep up to date with the literature in the field.

You should receive feedback and comments from your faculty mentor. At this point in time (if not done earlier) you are ready to transform your work into an abstract and poster (or oral presentation) and hopefully a manuscript for journal publication.

By the end of PGY-3, everything should be complete: data collection, study analysis, graphs/figures and write-up/poster/article (including peer-review).

Poster Presentation

Once you have secured and analyzed your data you can begin preparing a poster for your study.

Depending on your specialty, there are a number of conferences you can submit your work to. Please consult with your faculty member regarding this.

There is a standardized format to follow for all posters. Important information to include in your poster is:

• Title
• Author(s), with institutional affiliations and addresses of these institutions
• Abstract
• Introduction/Background
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• References
• Other things that need to be included on your poster (if applicable) include the source of funding and grant number, IRB approval, and the use of informed consent. 

The above is a general outline – specific organizers of conferences may ask for different subheadings. Please make certain to check on the submission requirements. Please use this format when presenting at MWU’s annual research day.

Please check the ORSP website for poster templates or email ILORSP@midwestern.edu (Downers Grove) or AZORSP@midwestern.edu (Glendale) for specific instructions.