Research
Getting started: There are many ways to be involved with research as a resident, and a little bit of advanced thinking can go a long way. Please use this timeline to help you get started:
Getting organized: Next, browse these resources for further suggestions and support:
- Early on:
- Pediatric Residency Research Guide: Use this as a starting point when starting a research project
- Pediatric Residency Medical Education Research Guide: Similar to the research guide, but adapted for med ed research
- Pediatric Hospital Medicine 2021: Read One, Write One, Get Funded: Two Junior Pediatric Hospitalists Delve Into Clinical Research and Grant Writing
- There are UMass librarians who can help with many aspects of research projects, including literature reviews. Find more information and some people to contact here.
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If you'd like to talk, reach out to residency leadership, or send an email to Drs. Nisha Fahey or Sarabeth Broder-Fingert
- Finding a project:
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The Department of Pediatrics has many ongoing research studies both prospective and retrospective as well as quality improvement initiatives. This catalog is meant to be a resource to residents and students to help them find research opportunities of relevance to them. This catalog is updated biannually with new and ongoing projects that need support. See the catalog here (Jan 2023 version).
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- Funding thoughts:
- Funding Opportunities for Resident Research: List of grants suitable for pediatrics
- Please note - the following funding is temporarily not available (as of spring 2025); though we do expect it back soon! (as of summer 2025): The Pediatrics Department is able to support resident research and presentations. However, you need to ask for this funding BEFORE you submit your work!! When you submit work to a conference, you are simultaneously agreeing to travel and present at the conference should your work be accepted. Details to help in these expenses:
- Each resident will have the opportunity to have $1,000 reimbursed for expenses related to presenting research/QI at conferences. This $1,000 is a total sum that can be used over the course of the 3 or 4 year residency program, and is in addition to annual education funds. If you plan to use this funding, please submit your request to both Larry Rhein and Monick Powell before you have submitted your work to a conference.
- Additionally, if residents have expenses above their annual education funds plus the $1,000 described above – every year, twice per year, they can apply (by Feb 1 and September 1) for additional funds from the department to be reimbursed for excess costs. This will be a competitive process so funding is not guaranteed.
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Residents are also encouraged to request financial support from their primary mentors on their submitted projects.
- Home stretch:
- Conferences!! A Google sheet we aim to keep updated of conferences that may be of interest
- Writing abstracts and presenting at academic meetings powerpoint by Dr. Trish McQuilkin
- Medical Education Journals for Publication: List of med ed journals to consider
- Don't pay to print your own poster! Email leadership before you order it, we can do so for you to cover printing costs.
Case Reports: A fun and relatively quicker project is to write up a case report. Cases of interest can occur at any time, here's some advice so you can seize the moment: