Course Catalog

 
06-448 CLINICAL RESEARCH IN PEDIATRIC NEUROSURGERY
Department NEUROSURGERY Campus Birmingham
Course Type(s) Co-enrolled Elective Facility
Course Director BRANDON G. ROCQUE, MD, MS Enrollment Limit 20
Contact BRANDON G. ROCQUE, MD, MS Enrollment Minimum 1
Email Brandon.rocque@childrensal.org Address ACC 400, zip 0000
Phone (205) 638-9653 Fax
Weeks
Normally Offered
See Offering Dates
Prerequisites * * * WRITTEN APPROVAL REQUIRED * * * By Permission only via: Enrollment by permission via Anastasia Smith at Anastasia.Arynchyna@childrensal.org 
Specific Clerkship Prerequisites:
Visiting Students
No LCME students accepted.
No osteopathic students accepted.
Course Description This course is designed to provide students with first-hand experience conducting clinical research in the field of pediatric neurosurgery. The purpose of this course is to learn basics of conducting a clinical study that includes institutional review board (IRB) application, literature review, development of research question and study design, data collection, data analysis, abstract and manuscript preparation. Research projects can range from retrospective chart review to prospective data collection via surveys, etc. Students will have an assigned faculty mentor and/or resident mentor for the length of the course. Collaboratively they will develop research questions and design studies to answer them. Students will receive weekly feedback on their projects from the faculty and research team via standing research meetings as well as though preliminary study presentations. Students will have opportunities to collaborate with multiple disciplines (urology, orthopedics, neurology, GI, neurospych, sleep medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, etc.), if desired. Learning Objectives: Students should gain practical knowledge on how to conduct clinical research project from its initiation to the manuscript preparation stage. Co-enrolled elective courses offer 2 weeks elective credit each; a student may only receive a maximum of 4 weeks elective credit from co-enrolled courses. STUDENTS ARE ALLOWED TO BE ENROLLED IN ONLY ONE CO-ENROLLED COURSE AT A TIME.
Where To Report Neurosurgery Suite Lowder 400, 1600 7th Ave S, Birmingham,AL 35233 AND zoom options are available. Class meets various days.
Requirements Students will also participate in the monthly journal clubs and medical evidence conference, including assigned readings and discussions. Medical Evidence Conference provides didactic training in the principles of evidence-based medicine, including interpretation of medical literature such as therapeutic effectiveness trials, randomized control trials, prognosis, causation, diagnostic tests, clinical assessment, meta-analysis/systematic review, economic analysis, case control studies, decision analysis, guidelines. Monthly journal clubs then apply this knowledge to critiquing examples of the neurosurgical literature.
Evaluation Pass/Fail. Grade based: Students will be expected to attend and participate in 1) monthly journal clubs; 2) monthly medical evidence conference; 3) weekly research meetings. The course administrator needs to be notified of any potential absences and will assign make-up reading/assignments. The final grade will be pass/fail and will be based on attendance, participation in the sessions, and the submission of a final manuscript/abstract.
Notes Students will also have opportunities 1) to submit their research for presentation at regional and national meetings; 2) to become involved in long-term projects; 3) to get involved in public health advocacy. The overall goal of this course is to provide students with an introduction to clinical research and to the tools needed conduct clinical research independently and successfully as they start their careers.

Co-enrolled elective courses offer 2 weeks elective credit each; a student may only receive a maximum of 4 weeks elective credit from co-enrolled courses. STUDENTS ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO BE ENROLLED IN ONE CO-ENROLLED COURSE AT A TIME.