Academic Projects for Medical Students

The Department of Medicine requires each graduating resident to have completed a significant academic project. Ideally, the project is selected during the first year, refined during the second year, and presented in the third year. Each PGYIII will be expected to present their project at a noon conference, or at a special "Resident's Day" symposium. A progress report, or the finished product from the project, is due June 1 of each year. Other variations would also be equally acceptable if the preceptor agrees, such as changing projects, adding projects, and accelerated completion.

Each resident selects one of the attending staff as a preceptor. The preceptor offers ideas, guidance, help, and possible resources. The PGY II and III residents choose a preceptor of their liking. The PGY I residents are assigned a preceptor from a list of volunteers, and have the option to choose another more suitable preceptor after they become familiar with our faculty.

It will be the responsibility of each resident to meet the timetable shown:

The academic project should be a topic the resident is interested in. There are no limits on the choice of topic, so long as it is suitable for an academic exploration. Some possible types of projects are shown as examples.

Possible type of project		Expected outcome
Scientific questions		Formal study (basic or clinical)
Curriculum development		Recommendations for one rotation
Health care delivery issue.		Cost-benefit analysis; comprehensive survey
Case report		Scholarly review and published report
Practice issue		Scholarly review and practice guideline
Interesting observation		Small series for trending; in depth lit. review

We would like to see the academic project be one of the highlights of your residency experience, and we look forward to working on these with you.