Research in Residency

Developed by:  
Ronald Rieder, M.D.,  Residency Training Director, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Deborah Cowley, M.D., Residency Training Director, University of Washington


If you are a resident interested in research, we suggest that you:

1)     Look for a mentor at your institution
  • Ask your training director for suggestions
  • Or, your Chairman (don’t be worried, Chairs usually like to be asked)
  • Ask a “Vice Chair for Research” if there is one in your Department
  • Ask other residents in your program who are doing research, and post-residency fellows doing research.
2)     Find someone to read journals with
  • A journal club
  • An interested faculty member
3)     Explore opportunities to do research
  • Ask your training director if there is elective time available to do research
  • If any resident has received time off of clinical duties to do research, ask how it was arranged.
4)     Find out about ways that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the National Institute of Mental Health support young researchers.
  • Contact the APA to sign up for the Psychiatric Research Report 
  • Explore the APA website about research training and funding: 
  • If you are in a racial or ethnic minority category, be sure to find out about the PMRTP (Psychiatry Minority Research Training Program) from Ernesto Guerra.
  • Look at the NIMH research training website.  You could write a F Award, or there may be a T32 award in your institution, even in another department, that might support you as a research fellow.
  • Attend the APA Annual Meeting and go to talks on subjects that interest you. Ask  the speaker after the talk if you could come to work with him/her after residency, and if he/she knows of any funding that would support that.
  • Attend Dr. Michele Pato’s course at the APA on how to do research without much in the way of research support.
5)     Try to decide what type of research you want to pursue. Some like a type of research, such as genetics, epidemiology, clinical trials, brain imaging. Some like an illness focus, such as Autism, Schizophrenia, Alcoholism, Borderline Personality Disorder. You will find that each of these areas is likely to have a meeting of psychiatric researchers sometime during the year.  Use the internet to explore such meetings, and see if your program will let you attend.  Some groups even sponsor travel awards to come to the meeting.

6)     Think about research-related activities such as writing case reports, literature reviews, quality improvement projects, or leading educational activities related to research such as journal clubs and Evidence Based Medicine sessions.  Do them with a faculty member who will guide you.

7)     Prepare a poster about your work, or of work on which you were a collaborator.  See if there is a poster session at your institution.  Also submit it for the APA Young Investigator Sessions at the Annual Meeting.

8)     Get a “Primer” on research.  One we can recommend is the “Research Manual: A Primer for Basic Research” by the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. Also excellent is "Scientific Integrity" by Francis Macrina, with chapters on mentorship, authorship and peer review.

9)     Pay attention to the research-oriented lectures/seminars in your department and medical school. There are usually online calendars or email lists to announce such events.

Resources:
  • Research Grants, Awards and Fellowships (PDF file) - compiled by Art Walaszek, M.D., Residency Training Director, University of Wisconsin
  • Research Manual: A Primer for Basic Research Competencies and Research Projects (PDF file) by: des Anges Cruser, Ph.D., MPA, Associate Professor and Research and Education Director, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine