Research Programs
Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Research Rotation, Year 1
One year of the three-year fellowship is protected time for research and academic development in which there will be minimal interruption from clinical duties related to the fellowship. The training of gynecologic oncology fellows will be individualized based on the fellows’ previous training, skills, research interests and other aspirations. The educational process will be formally structured with an Individual Development Plan (IDP) that is constructed within three months of entering the program by the fellow and an advisory committee comprised of their chosen research mentor.
Our program is designed to foster the desire and opportunity to pursue a more expanded mentored and collaborative investigational experience that has the ultimate goal of training interested fellows to become productive junior faculty investigators who are poised to initiate collaborative investigative experiences and funding after their fellowship.
During their first year, fellows will interview with a variety of faculty members who will meet their needs. Mentors have experience in a wide variety of areas such as population health and large database, quality improvement, translational research, and health services research.
Select Research Programs
Gynecologic fellows have been involved in many academic projects throughout the cancer center, including educational research, quality research, and translational research including the following select programs:
- The Gynecologic Oncology Translational Research Program
- The REWARD Study
- Moonshot Initiative for Smoking Cessation for Cancer Patients
- FAME-R Research Fellowship
- Foundations in Health Services Research Certificate Program
Coursework
- Thesis
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All fellows formally defend their thesis to their thesis committee at the end of their third year of fellowship. Ideally, the fellow thesis is also submitted for peer-review publication.
A Note about ABOG Certification Thesis Requirement: A thesis is required by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) Division of Gynecologic Oncology and must according to the guidelines for preparation listed in the ABOG Bulletin for Subspecialty Certification in Gynecologic Oncology. The work must have been undertaken during their fellowship. Ideally, the thesis will be a scientific worked published in a peer reviewed publication but publication by a refereed journal does not guarantee acceptance of the thesis for the Certifying Examination. Moreover, it is not essential for the thesis to have been published.
- Quality Improvement Projects
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We also require fellows to initiate one or more quality improvement (QI) projects during the first year of their fellowship and to complete this project prior to fellowship completion. We define QI projects for our fellows as systematic, data-guided analyses and activities that are designed to bring about immediate actionable improvements in health delivery to our gynecologic oncology patients at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. Importantly, to make improvements, fellows will need to gain an understanding of our healthcare organization and our immediate gynecologic oncology multidisciplinary healthcare delivery system and key processes within this system. The primary mentor chosen for this project will be from among the Gynecologic Oncology faculty, however, a multidisciplinary team approach to these investigations will be essential to its success.
The UH Rainbow/UH MacDonald Quality Curriculum is an optional course provided by UH Cleveland Medical Center that is available every winter and is available to Gynecologic Oncology fellows during their first year of fellowship. It is a practical set of two-hour educational seminars occurring over a four-month period that instructs on understanding the practical elements of Quality Improvement Science and applying one’s learnings to a performance improvement project of the participant’s choosing. Over the course of the sessions, a project is outlined and refinements occur based on mentorship and feedback. Course Director: Joyce Deptola (Director of Quality and Organizational Readiness, UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s and UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital)
- Outreach and Advocacy Projects
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“Health care does not exist in a vacuum.” We all participate in a complex healthcare system and achieving optimal health outcomes can be viewed on several levels: 1) the individual, 2) the community, and 3) the population. Fellows will participate in outreach and/or advocacy activities of their choosing to gain a better understanding of the social, political and economic determinants of health that ultimately influence the outcomes and well-being of their patients.
- Outreach is the activity of providing services to populations who might not otherwise have access to those services. We are strengthened when we develop a deeper understanding of the community that we serve and being an engaged community member means reaching out beyond the hospital campus.
- Advocacy is defined as any action that works in favor of individuals or groups. We are all advocates to our patients, but advocacy may also involve collaboration with others to achieve influence within varied institutional, political, economic and social systems. Advocacy may take the form of organizing, educating the public or legislators, undertaking relevant research, working with agencies, litigation or lobbying.