Development of research methods curriculum for an integrated care fellowship.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE\nTo describe the design and delivery of a curriculum in research methods for clinical fellows in integrated care.\n\n\nMETHOD\nTo design the curriculum, a standard curriculum development approach was applied through an iterative improvement process with input from researchers, clinical educators, and the first cohort of fellows. The curriculum has three central goals: (1) develop fellows capacity to interpret the integrated care literature and apply findings in practice; (2) develop fellows capacity for conducting quality improvement programs informed by knowledge of clinical research methods; and (3) enhance workforce capacity for practice-based research partnerships by increasing research understanding among clinical providers. A variety of educational strategies were employed to introduce each research method and apply these to the integrated care literature.\n\n\nRESULTS\nA description, rationale, and resources for each content domain is presented. The curriculum was delivered to two cohorts of fellows. Evaluation data supports the curriculum s relevance and quality.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nA rigorous development process yielded a brief research curriculum targeting the needs of clinical fellows in integrated care. The curriculum is well-received by fellows and adaptable for other subspecialties. It may serve as a model for other clinical training programs seeking to enhance their fellows fluency in research methods.