Overview
Scholarship is a central part of professional growth in the Critical Care Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic. We believe that the work of becoming an excellent intensivist includes learning to ask important questions, evaluate evidence, improve systems of care and contribute meaningfully to the field of critical care medicine.
Fellows interested in pursuing research as a major component of their career may access formal research training opportunities, including support through our T32 training grant and other funded pathways. These opportunities provide protected time, experienced mentorship and structured support for fellows pursuing careers in clinical, translational or laboratory-based investigation.
At the same time, we believe that scholarship is not limited to traditional research careers. Every critical care physician has the potential to contribute to the field through careful inquiry, educational innovation, quality improvement, patient safety, biomedical innovation, simulation, health systems science, informatics, implementation science or other forms of scholarship. Our goal is to help each fellow identify their strengths, clarify their interests and develop a scholarly focus that aligns with their emerging professional identity and long-term career trajectory.
Research and scholarly opportunities within the Respiratory Institute are broad and include clinical and laboratory-based work in areas such as ARDS, ECMO, mechanical ventilation, point-of-care ultrasound, sepsis, medical education and simulation, informatics, big data, quality improvement and health systems innovation. Fellows also have access to national and international databases, embedded biostatisticians, quality and process improvement experts, and faculty mentors with expertise across a wide range of academic domains.
Mentorship is central to this process. Fellows meet regularly with program leadership to discuss their clinical interests, scholarly goals, leadership development and career direction. These conversations help connect fellows with research mentors, career mentors and project teams that fit their goals. Together, fellows and mentors define career objectives, develop a scholarly plan, identify needed skills or experiences and ensure steady progress throughout training.
All fellows are expected to engage in meaningful scholarship during their fellowship, with the goal of producing work that reflects both academic rigor and personal purpose. This may include presenting at a professional society meeting, developing a quality improvement initiative, contributing to an educational innovation, preparing a manuscript, participating in biomedical innovation or advancing a project that improves the care of critically ill patients.
In addition, all first-year fellows participate in Quality in Leadership, our structured leadership and quality improvement curriculum. Through this program, fellows receive training in leadership, quality improvement, process improvement and team-based problem solving. Working with faculty mentors and quality experts, fellows address real problems in clinical care while developing the habits of inquiry, collaboration and systems thinking that define effective leaders in critical care medicine.
Ultimately, our approach to scholarship is individualized and mission driven. Whether a fellow is preparing for a career as a clinician scientist, educator, quality leader, innovator or master clinician, we aim to foster their strengths and unlock their capacity to make a lasting contribution to critical care medicine.
Resources
Biostatistics Course
Cleveland Clinic offers a variety of courses in statistics, from the practical to the theoretical. Fellows are free to enroll in any of these courses. In addition, we offer a self-guided, 18-month statistics in medicine course which focuses on the theory and application of statistical techniques commonly used in clinical research. This course offers fellows a thorough, yet practical approach to medical statistics as it pertains to practicing evidence-based medicine and improving the quality of patient care.
Embedded Biostatistician
We have two biostatisticians within the Respiratory Institute who play a crucial role in ongoing research studies conducted by our fellows and faculty. Biostatisticians can help fellows formulate sound research methodology for a project, assist with data analysis and contribute to manuscript preparation. Fellows are also encouraged to contact the biostatisticians to discuss and critique articles presented for the Critical Care journal clubs.
Department of Quantitative Health Sciences Courses
In addition to the Quality in Leadership (QuIL) program, the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences at the Lerner Research Institute offers a series of courses available to fellows seeking more in-depth learning in medical biostatistics, clinical epidemiology and clinical trials design and operation. Further details are provided on the QHS website.
Case Western Reserve Master of Science in Clinical Research
Case Western Reserve offers a Master of Science in Clinical Research. This two-year program is designed to provide physicians with rigorous didactic education in clinical research methods coupled with an in-depth mentored investigative experience.
Acceptance into this program is competitive, and a demonstrated commitment to research and to a career in academia is essential. Within our fellowship program, full tuition support can be offered to a maximum of one fellow per year who has selected the specialized research pathway as their advanced training pathway.
Involvement in this program would require extension of fellowship training and enrollment in the T32 Research Program.
T32 Research Program
The Respiratory Institute T32 Research Program provides funding and protected research time for Critical Care physicians with an interest in pursuing a clinician scientist career pathway. The T32 program requires a two-year commitment and is designed as a gateway to additional NIH funding mechanisms. Fellows interested in pursuing this pathway can apply to the T32 program as a three- or four-year fellowship. If interested in this pathway, please contact the program when applying. Further details are provided on the T32 website.
Simulation Fellowship
This fellowship is designed to develop leaders with vision, knowledge and a commitment to furthering research and development of simulation-based medical education. The fellowship is a one-year, project-based, longitudinal experience that enables the fellow to conduct research regarding simulation. Ancillary benefits include exposure to developing, operating and managing a simulation program. The program will use experts in the Cleveland Clinic Education Institute to provide core learning. In addition, fellows identify a content mentor who will provide clinical guidance throughout the project and will be paired with a mentor in the Simulation and Advanced Skills Center. Involvement in this program would require extension of fellowship training.
