Research Block Overview

All residents are expected to participate in the Resident Research Program. Below are answers to FAQs.

What do I have to do during PGY-1?

  • During PGY-1, residents must review the pool of approved resident research projects that are submitted each year in August by department faculty.
  • The approved projects are only a guide to indicate the possible research directions and the mentors that residents may pursue for their research. It is expected that the resident will work with his/her mentor and contribute to the design and development of his or her own original research project that is compatible with the mentor’s research interests and project description.
  • The supervisor can be any faculty investigator in the department. No supervisor may accept more than one resident-trainee per academic year.
  • All residents must attend a two-day course on critical appraisal of the scientific literature and research methodologies to be held annually as coordinated by Dr Reid of Queen's University at the December Toronto APOG meeting. Application for travel and accommodation costs for this conference should be made to the Travel Fund.

What do I have to do during PGY-2/PGY-3?

  • During year 2 or 3 of training and at least two months prior to the commencement of the research rotation, a one-page written proposal must be submitted to the Resident Research Coordinator outlining the hypothesis to be tested, the proposed protocol to be used and relevant background information. This report will be evaluated by the Resident Research Coordinator and/or the Department Research Committee prior to commencement of the research rotation. The intent is to get residents involved in their research projects prior to their research rotation and it means supervisors must be prepared to assist early on with the completion of this one page “Summary of Research Proposal”.
  • Application for "Research Involving Human Subjects" must be submitted and approved by Schulich Medicine & Dentistry REB committee well in advance of the research block.
  • The resident must also present a short (15-20 minute) talk outlining his/her research project objectives and experimental design.  This should be scheduled during a resident teaching session at least 2 months before starting the research block.  Attendees will include the chair and co-chair of the Research Committee, the resident’s project supervisor, all residents and any other interested department members. The purpose of this seminar is to enable constructive feedback regarding the purpose, design and approach that will be applied to address the project’s goals.
  • During the period of the research rotation the resident is expected to attend area-related research seminars.
  • At the conclusion of the research project, the resident must prepare and submit a project report to the Resident Research Coordinator. This report should be formatted in JOGC style with abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions and references. It is not expected that all resident research projects will result in submission to and acceptance in a peer reviewed publication, but this outcome will be encouraged by the program.

Will I have to present my work?

  • All residents are required to present at least once during their five years of training at the Department's Annual Research Awards Day.  This presentaion will be evaluated and that evaluation will form part of the resident's final research rotation report.
  • All residents are encouraged to present at an academic meeting of some organization outside of Western (e.g., the SOGC) and, if their paper is accepted, they can apply for monetary support for travel and accommodation to the Department's Travel Fund.