Research is central to ChristianaCare’s Emergency Medicine residency. During your residency, you will sharpen your skills as a researcher and deepen your ability to critically review published studies. All Emergency Medicine residents complete a scholarly project during their residency with the goal of presenting their work on a national level.
Emergency Medicine Residency Research FAQ
What are the major areas of research interest at ChristianaCare?
We are recognized nationally for our excellence in five areas – our ‘research pillars.’ In addition, we have a number of faculty members conducting research in sepsis, stroke care, infectious disease, bioethics, and public health. We work collaboratively with other ChristianaCare departments such as Trauma, Intensive Care, Neurology, and Cardiology, as well as other academic EM programs regionally and around the country.
Do all EM residents do a scholarly project?
Yes. This is a requirement of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Residency Review Committee (RRC) for all EM residents. Though not all scholarly projects are research related. While we have many residents who choose to do a traditional research project to fulfill their scholarly activity requirement, we also have residents that fulfill the requirement by being editors for one of our many EMRA book publications, creating sustainable education curriculums, and embarking on administrative projects that promote change in our department and hospital system. Resident have flexibility and support to pursue areas that are the best fit for their skill set, interests, and career goals. All residents present their projects during our weekly conference in the Fall of their PGY3 year.
How much support will I have to get my scholarly activity done?
From day one you are assigned a faculty research mentor. This experienced faculty member meets with you at least twice yearly to go over your goals, ideas and progress. You also have access to five full-time EM research nurses who are able to assist you with planning your project, submitting to the IRB, and collecting data. Additionally, ChristianaCare librarians and statisticians are available to assist with literature searches and data analysis, and we have access to tools to assist with writing your abstracts and manuscripts. Research projects are done in collaboration with the ChristianaCare Value Institute.
How successful are residents at getting their projects accepted at national meetings?
Our residents routinely present abstracts at multiple national conferences, including ACEP, SAEM, AAEM, CORD, and NAEMSP. Our research department works closely with residents in both the abstract and poster preparation to optimize the chances of acceptance and to represent our program at the national level.
For more information, contact Barb Davis, RN, manager of EM Research, at 302-733-4198, badavis@christianacare.org.