A systematic approach to research curricula for emergency medicine residencies

The understanding, design, and execution of research is a necessary part of emergency medicine residency training. An outline of a residency research curriculum is presented. The four objectives of this program are for the resident to critically read and evaluate research literature, learn to design and conduct a research project, become actively involved as a participant in a research project, and write and publish a research paper. This model curriculum is designed to accomplish these objectives in an organized manner and is based on the assumption that the resident has had no research experience. The program we have developed for resident research is designed to be covered in 36 hours of instructional time over a 3-year residency curriculum. The initial sessions are covered early in the residency and are concerned with the critical evaluation of research. These sessions are the foundation of the research curriculum and journal club meetings. The remainder of the didactic material is to be taught as the resident acquires practical research experience. These later sessions, conducted in a research committee format, guide the residents through the design, implementation, analysis, and presentation of their work.