Research Requirements
The resident is required to develop an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved, research proposal and answer a specific research question. This can be accomplished as new, individual project or as part of an existing, IRB-approved protocol with multiple sub-projects.
Specific milestones are established, and residents are expected to meet them as they progress towards their final product. These milestones are a suggested timeline and residents should strive to accomplish or surpass these suspense dates in advance. These milestones are as follows:
| Date | Task |
| June 15th of the first year | CITI Training |
| June 15th of the first year | Research question submitted to PD or RD |
| June 30th of the first year | Complete research course and site-specific protocol development form |
| June 30th of the first year | Construct a research plan of action |
| June 30th of the first year | Identify faculty mentor |
| July 31st of the first year | Protocol rough draft submission |
| July 31st of the first year | Identify the roles of all participants. In general, only one DSc Candidate can claim to be the lead associate investigator on a study. Large studies with multiple components may be able to support multiple Candidates, but this must be approved in advance. |
| August 15th of the first year | Protocol faculty revisions complete |
| August 31st of the first year | Final draft of protocol submitted to IRB |
| December 1st of the first year | Data collection begins |
| January 15th of the last year | First two chapters completed and turn in to the academic advisors/ mentors |
| February 1st of the last year | Chapter 1 and 2 faculty revisions complete |
| March 15th of the last year | Chapter 3 of the manuscript turn in to the academic advisors/ mentors |
| April 1st of the last year | Chapter 3 faculty revisions complete |
| June 1st of the last year | Data collection complete |
| July 1st of the last year | Submit proof of Case Report, Grant, 2nd protocol, or QA/QI submission to PD |
| July 1st of the last year | Chapter 4 & 5 rough draft of completed project submitted to PD and RD |
| July 15th of the last year | Rough draft completed project faculty revisions complete |
| August 1st of the last year | Rough draft of PowerPoint and poster due |
| August 15th of the last year | Faculty revisions of PowerPoint and poster complete |
| August 15th of the last year | Manuscript draft sent to DSc Candidate’s doctoral defense committee chairperson |
| September 1st of the last year | Advancement to candidacy/DDC forms due to the Program Chair |
| September 1st of the last year | Final draft of research project products submitted to PD and RD. This includes the manuscript, PowerPoint presentation, and poster (i.e., “final three”). |
| October 1st of the last year | Final three products submitted by the Program Director to the MEDCoE Graduate School |
| September 1st through October 31st of the last year | Oral defense rehearsals |
| November 1st – 30th of the last year | Final oral defense of research project |
| December 1st of the last year | Submit final report to IRB to properly transfer or close the accepted protocol |
| December 1st of last year | CV submitted to Program Chair by PD |