LEAH Leadership Projects:LEAH Leadership Projects:Choosing Your ProjectChoosing Your Project

& Working with Your Mentor & Working with Your Mentor

Cari McCarty, Ph.D.October 10, 2014

Upcoming LPC TimelineUpcoming LPC Timeline

October 31 – Area & TitleNov 21 – Brief proposalDec 10th - 1st LPC meeting, (time between 1-2:30 pm)

Jan 9th – Revised proposal submitted

*all submissions go to Katie.Albertson@seattlechildrens.org

Leadership Project AreasLeadership Project Areas

1. Research2. Advocacy/Policy3. Quality Improvement/Clinical

Upcoming LPC TimelineUpcoming LPC Timeline

October 31 – Area & TitleNov 21 – Brief proposalDec 10th - 1st LPC meeting, (time between 1-2:30 pm)

Jan 9th – Revised proposal submitted

*all submissions go to Katie.Albertson@seattlechildrens.org

Brief ProposalBrief ProposalBackground & Significance of the

Issue (1 page maximum)

Objectives (no more than 3)

Plan to Achieve the Objectives (1 page maximum)

Names of the mentor(s) for the project

MCH leadership goals addressed by this project (1 paragraph maximum)

Timeline

Upcoming LPC TimelineUpcoming LPC Timeline

October 31 – Area & TitleNov 21 – Brief proposalDec 10th - 1st LPC meeting, (time between 1-2:30 pm)

Jan 9th – Revised proposal submitted

*all submissions go to Katie.Albertson@seattlechildrens.org

Upcoming LPC TimelineUpcoming LPC Timeline

October 31 – Area & TitleNov 21 – Brief proposalDec 10th - 1st LPC meeting, (time between 1-2:30 pm)

Jan 9th – Revised proposal submitted

*all submissions go to Katie.Albertson@seattlechildrens.org

Selecting Projects: GoalsSelecting Projects: Goals

Acquire skills in research design, methods

Develop your agendaWork with particular peopleHave a product available for job talk

Selecting Projects: CriteriaSelecting Projects: Criteria

“FINER” criteriaUseful for Evaluating Fellowship

ProjectsFrom: Hulley and Cummings, Designing Clinical Research.

FFeasibleeasible

•Adequate data•Adequate expertise•Affordable in time and money•Manageable in scope•How risky is the project?

Finding Objectives Finding Objectives You Can AchieveYou Can Achieve

Tension between Ideal and Feasible

Ideal Objective and Method

•Interesting •Novel•Relevant•High internal validity•High external validity

Feasibility

•Access to data•Access to patients •Access to expertise•IRB approval•Time•Budget

IInteresting to younteresting to you

How interesting is the project idea to you?

Is the question important? (so what????)Will the results be a contribution no

matter what you find?Will it lead to subsequent questions?Will the project enable you to develop

important skills?With whom will you work?

NNovelovel

•Provides new findings or fills a gap that has not been addressed

•Confirms or refutes previous findings

•Extends previous findings

EEthicalthical

•IRB•NIH Inclusion Policy•Cultural competence

Cultural Competence in Cultural Competence in ResearchResearchCollect and examine data by

subgroup, when possibleDevelop and validate linguistic and

culturally appropriate measuresDisseminate best research

practices as they pertain to racial/ethnic minority health

Striving for cultural competence is a process, not a finite action

RRelevantelevant•To scientific knowledge and future research

•To clinical care and quality improvement

•To health policy and advocacy efforts

Choosing a Leadership Choosing a Leadership ProjectProjectDraw your inspiration from your

observationsDo something important:

frequency, severity, something you can impact, new information

Do something that is feasible given time and resources

Strike a balance between independence and apprenticeship

This is only the first step to a long career!

Writing LP ObjectivesWriting LP Objectives

Qualities of Strong LP Objectives

Important and interesting: Check it out with your mentor and peers, friends, family, etc.

Framing: Does Your Objective Framing: Does Your Objective Interest Others?Interest Others?

Writing Your LP ObjectivesWriting Your LP Objectives

Qualities of Strong LP Objectives

Important and interesting: Check it out with your mentor and peers, spouse, friends, etc.

Clearly written, with unambiguous language: Does it mean to others what it means to you?

Is it Clear and Unambiguous?Is it Clear and Unambiguous?

Learning Many New LanguagesLearning Many New Languages

During the course of your project, you will consult with diverse experts (technology, IRB, data management, research design, data analysis, biostatistics, scientific writing, etc.) …each speaking a different language…Ask for help when you are unsure what is meant …

Writing LP ObjectivesWriting LP Objectives

Qualities of Strong LP Objectives

Important and interesting: Check it out with your mentor and parents, spouse, friends, etc.

Clearly written, with unambiguous language: Does it mean to others what it means to you?

Specific enough to tell the reader what you’ll learn/do: Population? Outcomes? Timeframes?

LP Objective LanguageLP Objective Language

Tensions in creating a a simple yet specific objective in lay

language

Specificity: Vague DetailedLength: Long ShortWording: Unclear Excessive

lingo

Where is the sweet spot?

Writing LP ObjectivesWriting LP Objectives

Qualities of Strong LP Objectives

Imply a hypothesis (if Research): Can you phrase it “To determine or test whether “ ______ “? Does it imply the “directionality” of your hypothesis?

Addressable (by you): How sure are you that YOU can do the work to address the objective? What is your method/outcome? Do you have or can you recruit the needed expertise?

Refining LP ObjectivesRefining LP Objectives

Have lots of other people review itHave non-researchers review it Re-review it yourself after taking a break

from itMake sure the work you are doing

addresses it and is feasible

Background & SignificanceBackground & Significance

Research – What scientific gap will you fill? What do we know already?

Policy – What type of policy do you aim to inform and what do we know already that is relevant?

Advocacy – Who is your advocacy project targeted to? Why is it needed/important?

Clinical Care – Who is it targeted to, why is it needed/important, and how could it improve care?

QI– What system/procedure do you plan to improve? What has been done before? Why is this needed?

ITP: Literature Reviews with a ITP: Literature Reviews with a LibrarianLibrarian

Write down specific topics and keywords relevant to your objectives

Identify the optimal librarian liaison http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/librarians/ or Susan Klawansky@seattlechildrens.org

Email him/her and set up a meeting (in person or phone); they are expecting you!

Refine and save your search

Literature ReviewsLiterature Reviews

Benefits of Standardized Literature Reviews

Research ideas: Gaps in literature, patterns in what has been examined

Policy/advocacy: Data leads to changes!

Publishing: Write a standardized literature review or an editorial

Useful for writing later manuscripts and grants

Standardize Your Literature Standardize Your Literature ReviewsReviews

Develop a Table/Form to Abstract Key Information

• For a specific question and a specific search • Specify inclusion/exclusion criteria for articles• Author/year, Sample, Measures, Results, Notes• Start simple; add detail as specific use(s) becomes

clear• What is it you want to know about the literature?

Example 1: Studies on SES as a Example 1: Studies on SES as a Risk Factor for Alcohol UseRisk Factor for Alcohol Use

Author, Date

Sample Size

Type of Sample

Location Age Span

Cov. Included

Time-points

Fleming,2008

178 High-risk Midwest 9-18 No 2

Maggs, 2008

16,009 Community

Great Britain

7-42 No 5

Hoos,2012

4412 School-Based

Ontario, Canada

14-17 No 2

Capaldi,1999

311 High-risk Australia 10-18 Yes 2

King,2004

50 Community

New Zealand

16-19 No 2

Use a Citation Management Use a Citation Management SystemSystem

Why? Saves your library of citations, inserts markers in your writing, formats your bibliography for different journals

Which tools are used most frequently at UW? Zotero, Mendeley, RefWorks, EndNote

http://guides.lib.washington.edu/citation-tools

Citation Management Citation Management SystemsSystems Refworks: free, great online “help”, web,

transferable, no updates needed, tutorial and UW librarian support

Zotero: free, saves your library on your local computer but allows you to sync,

Mendeley: web-based app, with mobile capacity, newer

Endnote Web: free, limited to 10,000 citations, can import citations from a bookmark

Project Planning: Big PictureProject Planning: Big Picture

Determine the approach that you will take to accomplish your objectives. This can take many forms:

Needs assessmentsFocus groupsKey informant/stakeholder interviewsStatistical analysis of dataWriting a syllabusDeveloping a curriculumDeveloping a brochure/educational tools

Project Planning: Flesh Out the Project Planning: Flesh Out the DetailsDetails

How will you approach people?What questions will you ask them?What measures will you use (established vs. new)?How will you organize yourself?How will you track your progress?How will you summarize the results?What will your project look like in the end?How can your mentors best help you? What is a reasonable timeline?

Identifying MentorsIdentifying Mentors

A mentor is a close, trusted, and experienced counselor or guide.

Mentors provide topical and real world expertise, guidance, moral support, connections.

They are critical to success in academia

They must be invested in your career and development

Working with a MentorWorking with a Mentor

The success of the relationship depends on you

There are 5 keys to a good relationship

Be ProactiveBe Proactive

Do not wait for mentors to contact you

Meet with them regularly (every 2 weeks)

Schedule the next meeting at the end of the prior one

Be RespectfulBe Respectful

Mentors are typically very busyAsk when it will be convenient to meet

Be punctual (even if they are not)Give them adequate time to review materials (1 week recommended)

Be OrganizedBe OrganizedPrepare a list of points to cover at your meeting

Have some provisional ideas about what you want to do

Bring a computer or print out if reviewing materials together

Be ResponsiveBe Responsive

Take their advice & comments seriously

Even if you disagree with them, others are likely to raise similar concerns

Give them feedback on how you responded to their advice

Be AppreciativeBe Appreciative

Acknowledge their time & efforts

Keep them abreast of your progress

Let them know how helpful they have been