What’s New?
Congratulations to the following CIP fellows:
Dr. Katherine Plewes for being awarded the Merle A. Sande/Pfizer Fellowship Award in International Infectious Diseases by the IDSA ERK/NFID Joint Research Awards
Dr. Adelyn Ho for obtaining a Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Research Grant for two years.
CIP application deadline December 1
The UBC Clinician Investigator Program
The UBC Clinician Investigator program is designed to provide a combined research and clinical training stream for residents in Clinical Specialty Programs at UBC. The aim is to encourage young physicians to pursue careers as clinician-scientists and to renew the clinical academic faculty at UBC and other Canadian Medical Schools.
This aim will be accomplished by providing clinical trainees two years of protected research fellowship. The UBC CIP follows the guidelines of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and is approved by the RCPSC.
red blood cell
The Program:
- There are two streams:
- Graduate stream, leading to a Masters degree or Ph.D
- Post Graduate stream, for those residents who already have a post graduate degree
- The program is available to residents enrolled in specialty or subspecialty residency programs accredited by the Royal College who have demonstrated an interest in and a potential for a career as clinician investigators.
- For the purpose of this program, health research includes not only the traditional areas of laboratory and clinical biomedical research, but also such fields as economics and management, and social, behavioural and information sciences as they apply to health and disease.
- Within the Graduate and Postgraduate Stream there are three pathways for CIP training:
- The Continuous Training (CT) pathway, involves a minimum of 24 months of continuous, intensive, research training, which can be done at different points in residency.
- The Fractionated Training (FT) pathway is intended to allow for a distribution of a minimum 24 months of research during training, in periods of 3 months or longer blocks, with one year of continuous research training. The FT option is for individuals who wish to pursue research that requires more than several years to plan a research project, obtain research ethics board approval and complete the project, which may involve patient recruitment to a study. This pathway is particularly suitable for clinical epidemiology research, where intensive research activities will be separated by long waiting periods.
- The Distributive Curriculum Training (DCT) pathway is intended for outstanding residents who have research experiences prior to entering a residency program. In the DCT pathway, there is coordinated entry into the PGY1 year for both CIP and the specialty program. The PGY1 and PGY2 years in the DCT pathway are identical to a traditional specialty training program but the PGY3 equivalent is distributed over the PGY3 to PGY5 years, with three months of selective time in the PGY3 year utilized for research and completion of some clinical training requirements during the research block. In the DCT pathway, there are 27 months of research experience.
- The research component of the CIP may be satisfied within a Faculty of Medicine graduate program at UBC or, with permission of the CIP director, within an external research and educational institution. The research component of the CIP will be supervised by a primary supervisor and a supervisory committee. The supervisory committee must consist of at least three faculty members at the Assistant Professor level or higher. At least one of the members of the supervisory committee must (a) be a member of graduate faculty, (b) hold peer-reviewed funding, (c) represent the involved residency training program.
- The research supervisor must have an appointment with a University (not necessarily UBC). The supervisor must have a track record of peer reviewed publications. The supervisor must have the necessary grants (funds) for the project to be conducted as only the resident’s salary is paid. The supervisor must provide the necessary space for the resident to conduct the project, i.e. laboratory space, desk, computer access. The supervisor must have experience in supervising graduate students. It is preferential that there are peers in the supervisor's research group that the resident can interact and learn from.
- If the supervisor is inexperienced and can not fulfill the latter two (2) requirements, we suggest the younger supervisor team with a more experienced supervisor so the appropriate guidance and environment is available.
- If the resident is doing their research at a location other than UBC, a member of the resident’s supervisory committee must have a UBC appointment.
- The clinical component of the program is identical to the RCPSC approved residency training program in the specific discipline with the exception that, with the approval of the department and division head, one year may be used for research training. Thus, the CIP adds a minimum of one year to the residency training. During the two year research training no more than 20% of a regular work week may be spent on clinical work, unless it is an integral part of the research. However, candidates are encouraged to take advantage of ongoing rounds, academic clinical events and academic half day sessions.
- Course work: The resident will participate in CIP scheduled seminars and participate in course work as outlined by the policies of the host graduate department. For candidates in the post graduate pathway only participation in the CIP scheduled seminars is required.
- Research component: This will consist of original research which will lead to a Masters Degree or PhD and must fulfill the criteria established by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. For residents in the non-graduate program, their research must lead to the submission and acceptance of at least one paper in a peer reviewed journal listed in Medline and with an impact factor greater than 1.0 This work will be presented at a national or international conference and as well as to the faculty of the sponsoring division.
After two years, on completion of the CIP the UBC CIP committee will, after examination of all prerequisites, recommend an acceptance, rejection or a 3 month deferral to the RCPSC. Funding for the full two years will be provided by the Postgraduate Office.
Goals and Objectives:
Overall Goals and Objectives
The objective of the UBC Clinician Investigator program is designed 1) to provide a combined research and clinical training stream for residents in Clinical Specialty Programs at UBC, 2) to renew the clinical academic faculty at UBC and other Canadian Medical Schools, and 3) to aid in innovation and advancement of knowledge translation in healthcare in British Columbia.
Detailed Goals and Objectives in CanMed Format
The following is an outline of training objectives for the University of British Columbia CIP program formatted according to Royal College Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) CanMEDS competencies and roles.
Medical Research Expert
Knowledge Base
- Acquire a thorough knowledge of the chosen field of research, and a good basic knowledge of additional related areas.
- Function effectively as a clinician investigator, integrating all of the CanMEDS roles.
Learning Skills
- Demonstrate initiative in learning and continue to develop self-directed learning skills.
- Demonstrate willingness to obtain feedback on knowledge and performance.
Research Communicator
Ability to communicate and interact with colleagues
- Communicate effectively with peers and other professionals.
- Communicate effectively with patients who are involved in research protocols.
- Provide information efficiently, and learn to obtain appropriate information from others.
- Handle conflict situations tactfully and effectively.
- Facilitate the learning of others such as patients, housestaff, other health professionals, research trainees, faculty and graduate students.
- Develop efficient presentation skills, with appropriate use of audiovisual aids. Preparation should be timely, accurate, clear, concise and of appropriate depth.
- Develop and demonstrate skills in scientific writing. Work should be well organized, clear and accurate.
Research Collaborator
Professional interactions and ability to collaborate with others
- Establish effective relationships with team members and be helpful, respectful, and supportive to others while demonstrating honesty and integrity.
- Recognize the value of, importance of, and opportunities for, establishing research collaborations.
- Learn how to set up collaborations that are rewarding for, and respectful of, all parties.
- Contribute positively to the research team.
Research Manager
Project management and resource utilization
- Demonstrate ability to manage research projects, with appropriate use and appreciation of resources.
- Use information technology appropriately in research activities.
- Manage experimental data recording and result interpretation appropriately.
- Develop skills in management of own research career, including balancing clinical and research demands and responsibilities.
- Demonstrate an ability to perform administrative duties and to take on leadership roles.
- Be well-organized and complete assignments efficiently and in advance of deadlines.
Health Advocate
Health advocacy and knowledge of ethics in medical research
- Participate in ethical research, with appreciation for the importance of research to the social, economic and biologic factors that impact health.
- Participate in activities that demonstrate advocacy for subjects, patients, communities and populations in relationship to health promotion and the performance of health-related research.
- Promote dissemination of research knowledge to patients, communities and populations.
Research Scholar
Research skills in study/experimental design
- Acquire research design skills appropriate to the trainee’s field and level of training.
- Accurately elicit and synthesize relevant research information and perspectives from relevant sources.
- Critically evaluate information and its sources and apply this appropriately to research practices and decisions.
- Develop skills and accuracy in all aspects of the recording and interpretation of research data.
- Demonstrate problem-solving skills in research, and in interactions with others.
- Develop understanding of the components of empirical inquiry including background preparation, hypothesis generation, description of rationale and objectives, data collection and evaluation, discussion of results and generation of conclusions.
- Contribute to the creation, dissemination, application and translation of new knowledge and practices.
- Complete research projects under the supervision of the Research Supervisor including the writing, submission and presentation of grant proposals, original work at scientific meetings, and original work for publication (as appropriate).
Professional
Sense of responsibility and interest
- Demonstrate appropriate responsibility, ethical behavior and initiative in research projects.
- Demonstrate commitment, honesty, integrity and compassion in research activities, including participation in profession-led regulation, peer-review activities, and the prevention of academic fraud.
- Seek additional tasks to advance skills.
- Complete work and responsibilities in advance of deadlines.
- Be familiar with, and adhere to, the University of British Columbia Professional Standards for Faculty Members and Learners
- Develop an awareness of own strengths and weaknesses and actively seek feedback and advice.
- Accept and respond appropriately to constructive feedback.
- Be familiar with, and adhere to, the University of British Columbia’s Postgraduate Medical Education policy on conflict of interest/conflict of commitment