Curriculum Structure
The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS) has a robust interprofessional learning environment and wealth of educational resources and expertise. A career development plan (CDP) will be used to access current skills and strengths, short- and long-term career goals, research and career skill training goals, and research productivity goals. It will also be used to individualize the selection of Learning Health System (LHS) competencies and organize the training experience for each fellow to match prior skills, interests, and preferences for specialization. Our local curriculum will provide fellows with a strong theoretical and practical foundation in the knowledge and skills essential to health services research, with an emphasis on learning health systems, interprofessional research, and experiential learning opportunities. In Year 2, HSR fellows will have the opportunity to select one of three areas of specialization: (1) Policy and HSR Methods, (2) Implementation Science, or (3) Informatics.
Curriculum Structure |
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Mo. |
Year 1 |
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1 |
Theories, Concepts, and Vocabulary for LHS |
Conceptual Frameworks and Theoretical Models |
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Stakeholder Experience and Perceived Value |
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3 |
Research Questions and Designs for LHS
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From Scientific Evidence and Stakeholder Perspectives to Research Questions |
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4 |
Focused mentoring on papers Analytic support from core services |
Using Concepts and Theories to Select Research Design |
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Formal Review |
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7 |
Research Approaches and Methods |
Mixed Methods Approaches |
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Multilevel Health Determinants |
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9 |
Statistical Approaches for Health Services Research and Implementation Science |
Applying Principles of Hypothesis Testing in Health Services Research |
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10 |
Statistical Approaches for Implementation and Evaluation Research |
Applying Principles of Hypothesis Testing in Implementation and Evaluation Research |
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11 |
Preparation of Presentation or Poster for AcademyHealth Presentation or Poster at Capstone Fellows Meeting Report on Abstracts and Papers submitted/published during Year 1 |
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Formal Review |
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Mo. |
Year 2 Specialization |
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Policy & HSR |
Implementation |
Informatics |
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1 |
Ethics of Research and Implementation |
All objectives |
All objectives |
All objectives |
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2 |
Informatics |
Tailored objectives |
Tailored objectives |
All objectives |
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4 |
Improvement and Implementation Science |
Tailored objectives |
All objectives |
Tailored objectives |
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6 |
Engagement and Leadership |
All objectives |
All objectives |
All objectives |
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Report on grants, abstracts, and papers submitted/accepted/published in first 6 mos. of Year 2 |
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Formal Review |
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7 |
Focused mentoring in specialization and work toward CDA application |
Works-in-progress meetings and Veteran engagement |
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Individualized support through cores |
Advanced experience with VA data |
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9 |
Pre-submission Critiques for CDA and papers |
Veteran engagement for research feedback Present at IDEAS Center seminar |
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10 |
Focused mentoring on integrating feedback from colleagues and stakeholders |
Group mentoring discussions of feedback and critiques on revisions Group mentoring discussion on relationship between earlier learnings and development of award applications and advanced papers |
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11 |
Submission of CDA/other fellowship papers |
Mentoring from senior mentors and staff mentors |
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12 |
Report on submission of grants, abstracts, and papers submitted/accepted/published in Year 2 |
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Final Review |
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Cross-Program Collaboration
With 5 total Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Fellowships at the VASLCHCS, we have a cohesive community of Veteran-centric research trainees. We offer dedicated activities and events aimed at increasing cross-program collaboration, camaraderie, and peer mentoring. These include:
- Annual Orientation and Capstone: Orientations will cover common content and introduce the new fellows to each other. Outgoing fellows will present their accomplishments at annual capstone events for all new and current fellows.
- Biweekly Data & Informatics Topics: A series with topics focusing on VA data structure, provenance, and searching for the data that fellows may need for their nascent projects. SQL is introduced, as well as basics about best practices, the research operations divide, regulatory issues, cybersecurity, encryption, and re-identification risk.
- Monthly Faculty Meet-and-Greets: Monthly lunch events hosted by a different IDEAS faculty member as a means of introducing our faculty and their research and outside interests to the fellows at a more personal, informal level.
- Quarterly ACOS-R Meeting: Our ACOS-Research will host quarterly meetings with invited leaders from within and outside VA to talk informally about their work and their career paths. Fellows will have the opportunity to meet and network with field leaders and to see the variety of career paths available to them. Individuals from organizations from AHRQ HRSA, CDC, PCORI, and the VISN and local facility will be invited.
- Annual Research Symposium: Fellows will present posters and oral presentations on their work for their colleagues, mentors, and the VASLCHCS research and clinical communities.
Academic Affiliate – University of Utah
The University of Utah, our primary academic affiliate, places great value on VA research. Our strong relationship will provide fellows with access to special academic programs. For example, fellows will have the opportunity to participate in the Vice President's Clinical and Translational (VPCAT) Research Scholars Program. VPCAT is a 2-year intensive mentoring program supporting early-stage faculty engaged in clinical and translational research in transitioning to accomplished, funded principal investigators. Our fellows will also be able to take courses from the Clinical &Translational Science Institute’s Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) graduate program. In addition, all qualified fellows will be granted Adjunct Instructor faculty positions. This is a critical benefit that opens up key opportunities for fellows, including discounted educational courses and a potential long-term research career pathway.
AcademyHealth
AcademyHealth serves as the Advanced Fellowship Coordinating Center for the HSR Program. They will help coordinate efforts to develop and implement a model curriculum for the LHS core competencies. AcademyHealth offers opportunities for fellows to network across all sites and a series of bi-weekly didactic sessions. Example didactic focus areas include orientation to the program, VA culture and resources, and LHS core competencies.