Research Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residency at Jersey City Medical Center

Research and scholarly activities are an essential component of the residency program at Jersey City Medical Center. The program is dedicated to teaching and exposing all residents to research by offering residents a conducive environment and resources to engage in research.

The goal of the program is to train residents who appreciate and understand critical interpretation of research, evidence-based medicine, and presentation of a research project. The curriculum includes a series of didactics, monthly journal club curriculum and guidance from assigned research mentors from the core scholarly committee. Residents are required to participate and to become familiar with the basics of research in clinical medicine in their 3-year training.

PGY-1

  1. Mentorship – Residents are assigned to a mentor for guidance and continuous follow up to ensure research targets are met.
  2. Mandatory attendance at all monthly Journal Club sessions.
  3. Residents are encouraged to attend research lectures.
  4. Each PGY-1 is expected to write 2 case reports, at least one being a first author publication. They are expected to participate in at least one quality improvement project before the end of the first year. Additionally, residents are encouraged to submit their work to a national meeting and for publication.

PGY-2

  1. In the second year, residents are expected to have gained basic knowledge to lead a formal study or a quality improvement project. Residents are to develop a research topic, have a research protocol and begin IRB submission.
  2. Each PGY-2 is expected to write 3 case reports, at least 1 should be a first author paper. Case reports are to be presented at research day. Additionally, residents are encouraged to submit their work to a national meeting and for publication.
  3. Residents in their second year are to continue working with their assigned mentors or allowed to change based on changing interest. Residents are expected to meet with mentors at least quarterly to assess progress.
  4. Mandatory attendance at all monthly Journal Club sessions.
  5. Attendance to research lectures is encouraged.

PGY-3

  1. In the third year, residents are expected to have started data gathering and analyses of results and presentation of findings.
  2. Upon completion of a formal research study or a QI project, results are to be presented at research day and at a national conference.
  3. Residents in the third year are entitled to 1 week of Protected elective time if a resident provides evidence of an accepted manuscript at the end of the elective week. The resident should be the first author of the paper.
  4. Mandatory attendance at all monthly Journal Club sessions. Attendance to all research lectures is encouraged.