Research in the
Department of Surgery
Core Program
August 5th 2009
Introduction
Catherine Gill Pottruff
Research Coordinator for the Academic
Department of Surgery
 Contact Info:
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302-43 Charlton Ave E.
 Phone: x 35287
 Email: gillc@mcmaster.ca
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What is expected during my
residency in terms of research?
It is expected that you will do a minimum of 2
research projects over the 5 years
Some programs have further requirements
It is expected that you will present your work
at least at one of our Research Days and
strongly encouraged that you present at
national or international meetings
The privilege of sitting your exams will be
denied if the minimum requirements are not
met
What Kinds of Research?
Bench Level/Cellular Level
(Drs. Pinthus, Ghert, Singh
and Jiang)
Patient Level (Drs. Bain, Ruo, Cadeddu, Sne and Lovrics)
Surgical Outcomes (Drs. Miller, Anvari, Bhandari, Thoma
and Lovrics)
Cutting Edge Technology (Drs. Anvari and Williams, MIU)
Economic Analysis (Drs. Lamy and Thoma)
Knowledge Translation (Dr. Simunovic)
Surgical Education (Drs. Dath, Szalay, Matsumoto and Wong)
Office of Surgical Research
Services (OSRS)
Dr. James Bain, Associate Chair of Research
Dr. Forough Farrokhyar, Biostatistician/Clin. Epidemiologist
Ms. Catherine Gill Pottruff, Research Coordinator
Ms. Charneal Dixon, Research Assistant
Ms. Ann Kolkin, Research Admin Support for Dr. Farrokhyar
Mr. Ian Burt, Accountant
Ms. Sue Graci, Finance Assistant
Ms. Clare Mitchell, Manager of Dept of Surgery
Services We Offer
Formulation of the research question
Methodological support
Sample size calculation
Budget reviews
Ethics applications
Funding applications
Data analysis
In house reviews: ethics, funding, manuscripts etc
Short term research support during projects
Poster design and printing arrangements
How do I get started?
Find someone to be your supervisor
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Surgeon
Bench Researcher
Physician or Researcher in another specialty
Determine what your question is
Talk to Dr. Farrokhyar about your methodology
Apply for some funding
Apply for ethics approval
Arrange for some time to do the work
Where can I find funding?
Local Funding Opportunities
Outside Funding Agencies
Local Funding Opportunities
Dept of Surgery Research Advisory
Committee Residents’ Research Fund
 $5000/resident/project/year
 Can’t be used for capital equipment,
computers, software or for travel
 Apply anytime by emailing me your cover
letter, protocol, budget and budget
justification
Local Funding Opportunities
RMA Scholarships
 $7500/resident/year
 Resident must be PI
 Apply through the Postgrad Office
 Next Deadline: August 31st 2009
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http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/postgrad/documents/Awards%20
Booklet%202008.pdf
Local Funding Opportunities
HHS New Investigators Fund
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$25 000/12-18 months
Residents are eligible if the work occurs at an
HHS site
Resident must have a Co-applicant who is an
experienced researcher, with peer reviewed
funding and on staff at HHS
2 competitions a year: due electronically by
4 pm March 31st and October 1st
http://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/body.cfm?id=1074
Outside Funding Agencies
Physicians’ Services Inc. Foundation

$20 000/ 1 year
Resident as PI
Project must be developed by the resident and
the resident must do the majority of the work
of the project
4 competitions a year: Feb, May, Aug, Nov

http://psifoundation.org/resident_research.htm
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Outside Funding Agencies
Several professional organizations have
grant competitions for which residents
are eligible, such as:
 Canadian Association of General Surgeons
 Canadian Society of Vascular Surgeons
 Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons
 Orthopaedic Trauma Association (US)
When You Apply for Funding….
The Office of Surgical Research Services is
happy to review your application to make sure
you have completed all the requirements,
obtained all the signatures and that the
application is at the standard expected by the
Department
We keep a running list of successful grants in
the Department, and we can help you with
setting up accounts etc.
Ethics Approval
Ethics approval is required from either the
Research Ethics Board (FHS-HHS or SJH) for
human research or the Animal Research Ethics
Board for animal work
Office of Research Services can help develop
consent forms, data collection sheets, complete
the application forms and collect signatures
Ethics Approval Process
All forms, deadlines and any other information
you will need can be found on the McMaster
webpage under HRS - Health Research Services:
http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/healthresearch/ethics.html
Ethics Approval Process
Generally the deadlines are at the end of each
month, for a meeting in the 3rd week of the next
month
Please make sure you use the most recent
version of the forms and get all the appropriate
signatures or your application will be sent back
without review
REB or AREB approval is necessary for release
of research funding
Specifically….
Two Notes Regarding Ethics Applications
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Research projects involving data collection from
office or hospital charts require Ethics approval and
completion of the online McMaster Privacy Tutorial
http://ethics.mcmaster.ca/chart/
As of Dec 31/08, all researchers doing clinical trials
at SJH are required to show proof of Good Clinical
Practice training as part of the REB application
(HHS/FHS does not require this yet, but they will in
the near future)
Specifically….
One More Regarding Animal Work
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Central Animal Facility requires all researchers using
animals to complete the basic orientation as well as
other training courses as required for your work
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Animal Handling
Gaseous and Injectable Anesthetics for Animals
Blood collection
CAF has a Veterinarian and Veterinary Pathologist on
staff to assist in the planning of your project, and
Veterinary Technologists available to assist if
required
When can I do my research?
You can arrange to have protected research
time either in a 3 month block or on a weekly
basis for a period of time
Please talk to your Program Director if you
want to do this
PGY-2s can use the Core Program Research
Seminar time as protected time
Things to Remember
Once your project is complete, it isn’t
over:
Write it up and submit it for publication
 Submit abstracts to national and
international meetings for oral or poster
presentation (travel funding is available from
the Department – ask your Program
Coordinator for more information)
 Apply for prizes!
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Prizes?!
Royal College has yearly Canadian Research
Awards for Specialty Residents, $2000
PSI Foundation Prizes for Resident Research,
5x$2000, top paper gets an additional $1000
Quality Assurance Awards, 5x$1000, for best
work in quality assurance
 All are for completed research only
Upcoming Research Events
Divisional Residents’ Research Days 2009
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Plastic Surgery-Sept 11th
Orthopaedics-Oct 2nd
General Surgery-Oct 9th
Otolaryngology-Oct 21st
Neurosciences-Oct 30th
Department Annual Residents’ Research
Conference 2009
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Wednesday November 11th
PGY-2 Research Mornings
January 13th and June 2nd 2010
Purpose: For the PGY-2s to gain experience in
presenting and feedback on projects in
development
Can be a proposal, a work in progress or a
completed project
PGY-1s, senior residents and faculty will be
invited to provide constructive criticism to the
presenters
List of presenters for each date will be
available in late September
In Conclusion….
When you are thinking about doing
research projects:
Keep in mind all the prep work that goes
into a project and have an appropriate
timeline
 The Office of Surgical Research Services
can help make your project outstanding
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http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/surgery/research.html