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Research Practices and Policies for consideration
Department of General Surgery
March, 2013
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Summary
The ACGME requirements for residency programs in general surgery stipulate that faculty must
“establish and maintain an environment of inquiry and scholarship with an active research
component”. The department of general surgery at UICOMP has required that graduating
surgical residents prepare a manuscript for submission and deliver a research presentation
prior to graduation.
The research committee is to be established to
1) review the current research activities within the department and the current research
policies;
2) to formulate recommendations for surgical house staff requirements with respect to
research exposure and productivity;
3) to facilitate research by providing training opportunities through informal mentorship,
educational programs, recruitment of research mentors, identifying institutional and
external laboratory experiences;
4) to determine outcome metrics for measuring the success of the research enterprise in
the department of general surgery; and
5) to implement those policies upon approval by the Chair of Surgery.
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Background
The ACGME requires that faculty participating in General Surgery residency training programs
provide an environment of inquiry and scholarship that includes an active research component.
It is also expected that breadth and depth of research should be maintained in all accredited
programs. These requirements are essential to 1) maintain accreditation by the RRC, 2)
strengthen the training program, 3) foster the maturation of well-trained and well-rounded
general surgeons, 4) provide the knowledge base to develop research projects and to critically
evaluate scientific discovery in the peer-reviewed literature, and 5) identify prospective
academic leaders in general surgery.
While direct faculty participation in research is considered important to program accreditation,
residents’ engagement in research projects on their own is also expected.
With respect to faculty, although not all faculty members are required to conduct scientific
research, the ACGME does expect that some faculty members will demonstrate academic
scholarship through active research participation. This includes peer-reviewed funding,
publication of original research, review articles, case reports and/or book chapters in peerreviewed literature. Additional evidence of scholarly activity includes presentations at local,
regional and national professional scientific, medical societies and foundations, and
participation in national committees.
With respect to residents, the ACGME guidelines encourage faculty to support residents in
scholarly pursuits which include research. While the guidelines recognize that not all members
of the faculty can be investigators or have basic science research laboratories, they do
recommend that research be an on-going activity within the residency program, be based at
the institution where the residents spend the majority of their clinical time, and be performed
by faculty with frequent and direct resident involvement. The guidelines further recommend
that a specified research curriculum be established to advance resident’s knowledge of basic
research principles, how research is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients and applied to
patient care. Furthermore, the ACGME guidelines strongly recommend that sponsoring
institutions allocate adequate educational resources to facilitate resident involvement in
research activities.
The ACGME requirements are in line with the academic mission of UICOMP and its expectations
of faculty commitment to departmental research as part of the department established
educational programs. A thriving department research environment is also an important factor
in attracting high quality applicants to the surgical residency program.
Thus, having a well-established, transparent and operational strategy for surgical research is an
essential component to the department academic activities. Plans are being developed to
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provide qualified residents with opportunities to participate in independent research and to
spend one research year exclusively in a laboratory setting.
To develop a more comprehensive, defined and structured research program within the
department and promote a research friendly environment, a committee is to be established
with the following objectives:
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To review the current status of departmental research activities and policies governing
faculty and resident research
To develop policies governing scholarly and research activities for surgical residents in
the department
To provide the house staff with research opportunities and educational program
To facilitate the mentorship process for surgical residents
To define metrics of success for the research effort within the department and monitor
residents research activities and the department research environment.
Research Committee
The following faculty members and their respective expertise are proposed:
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Charles Aprahamian, M.D.- Charles.J.Aprahamian@osfhealthcare.org Core Surgical
Faculty mentor and Educational Outcome Research
Carle Asche, Ph.D.- Cva@uicomp.uic.edu Research curriculum and Health-Related
Outcome Research
James DeBord, M.D. -Jdebord@peoriasurgical.com Core Surgical Faculty mentor and
Clinical Research
David Crawford, MD.- Lapsurg@comcast.net Core Surgical Faculty mentor and Clinical
Research
AiXuan Holterman, MD. Aixuan.L.Holterman@osfhealthcare.org Core Surgical Faculty
mentor and Basic/Translational Research
Steven Tsoraides, MD. Stsoraides@peoriasurgical.com Core Surgical Faculty mentor,
Clinical Research
Hannah Wang, Ph.D- Hpwang@uicomp.uic.edu Research curriculum and statistical tools
John Vozenilek, M.D- John.A.Vozenilek@osfhealthcare.org Research curriculum,
Simulation and Educational Outcome Research
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For considerations
1. The research committee responsibilities:
 To meet at 7AM Friday at the 3rd week of the month once every 3-4 months (at the
beginning, midterm and near graduation).
 To provide continued oversight of the department research process.
 To organize the research website:
Catalogue surgical faculty active research projects and research faculty mentors
Catalogue residents’ research projects and academic activities
Abstract and meeting dates for surgical organizations
Research policies
 To assist and ensure that the residents have the appropriate research mentorship
(basic science, clinical investigations and/or population-based research areas within
the department and as needed, outside the department).
 To review and monitor the progress of residents preparation of projects or
manuscripts, evaluate and assist in the resident in manuscript, abstracts writing and
presentations.
 To sponsor (bi)yearly department-wide Research Showcase Conference for residents
to present their ongoing or final research projects.
 To organize and assist GME with educational research sessions (fundamentals of
research, abstract/manuscript writing/presentation, evidence-based literature, …)
 To work with the department administrative personnel which will be assisting with
the research program organization, minutes, assistance with IRB submission,
compilations of research projects, residents’ presentations and publications.
2. Resident responsibilities:
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To identify a research mentor by March of their first year. The research mentor can
also serve as the career mentor who will guide and assist the residents in
formulating a research plan, conducting specific research projects, writing
manuscript/abstract and preparing research presentations.
To demonstrate scholarly activities through a) one formal manuscript in the form of
original research, review articles, or book chapters (Case reports do not qualify), in a
condition suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed scientific journal and b) a
research presentation at a regional or national meeting by the time of graduation.
Although the goal is manuscript publication, approval for the adequacy of the
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manuscript content and style, and feedback is at the discretion of the department
chair or research committee.
To present their accepted manuscripts or regional/national presentations or their
research work in the Department of Surgery Research Showcase Conference before
graduation.
To attend the Department of Surgery Research Showcase Conferences.
To meet the research committee chair on a yearly basis to assess their progress.
To be in compliance with the IRB research requirements.
To join the Association of Academic Surgery as a candidate member. Qualified and
interested residents will be supported to attend its yearly meeting.
Potentials topics for Fundamentals of Surgical Research
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How to do a research presentation
Manuscript writing, preparation and the peer-review process
How to design a project, write IRB proposal and grant
Database development, analyses
Critical appraisal of literature and evidence-based publications
Research ethics (data management, rules of authorship, project design, innovation,
plegiarism)