Update on Research Primer

Despite the personal and clinical challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of academic emergency physicians have proven their commitment to academic medicine by completing their contributions to the new 2021 ACEP primer, titled "Resident Research and Scholarly Activity: A Primer." This book was funded by a 2019-2020 ACEP Section grant, and is intended to be a supplement to the 2012 Primer, "Emergency Care Research: A Primer". The 2012 Primer on emergency care research (ECR) is a great reference for "how-to" conduct ECR, but additional guidance is needed for those who wish to facilitate resident ECR and, more generally, their scholarly activities. Resident-level scholarly activities represent a specific niche within ECR, with their own unique requirements and challenges. The target audience for this Primer is EM residency leadership and EM research directors who wish to maximize the value of scholarly activity for their EM residents.

The chapters (and authors) of the latest Primer are:

1 – Scholarly Activity and Emergency Medicine: An Overview
(Robert R Ehrman, Sarathi Kalra, Bryan G Kane, Adrienne N Malik)

2 – Defining and Structuring a Resident-Level Research and Scholarly Activity Program
(Jessica K Fujimoto, Michelle D Lall, Esther H Chen)

3 – Types of Scholarly Activity
(Christopher L Bennett, Nidhi Garg, Carlos A Camargo Jr.)

4 – Motivating Residents to Engage in Research and Scholarly Activity
(Kelsey D Vargas, Elizebeth A Dubey, Laura J Smylie, Anne M Messman)

5 – Resources for Successful Resident-Level Research
(Hope A Ring, Daniel C Keyes)

6 – Ten Common Pitfalls on the Journey to Project Completion
(Jason R West, Deborah B Diercks, James P d’Etienne)

7 – Defining a Resident-Level Research / Scholarly Activity Project
(Gary M Gaddis, R. Gentry Wilkerson, Claire L Pearson)

8 – How to Properly Design and Conduct a Retrospective Study
(James H Paxton, Amman Bhasin, Brandon B Askar, R. Gentry Wilkerson, Vikhyat S Bebarta)

9 – How to Conduct a Literature Review
(Capt. Mack Sheraton, Theodore J Gaeta)

10 – Funding Mechanisms for Resident Research Projects
(Stacey L House, Charles B Cairns)

11 – Publishing and Presenting Resident Research and Scholarship
(Mary E McLean, Chinwe H Ogedegbe, Alexander T Limkakeng, Wendy C Coates)

12 – Emergency Care Research Fellowships
(Michelle P Lin, Mark A Probst, Lynne D Richardson)

13 – The Pros and Cons of Implementing a Mandatory Resident Research Activity Requirement
(Edward A Panacek, Sarathi Kalra)

14 – The Value of a Mentor
(Joshua J Davis, Charles B Cairns)

The final product has been published on the ACEP website (along with the 2012 Primer) here. Section Editors for this project were Chadd K. Kraus DO DrPH, R. Gentry Wilkerson MD, Gary M. Gaddis MD PhD, and Charles B. Cairns MD. Completion of this project, despite the many challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, is a testament to the resilience of emergency medicine providers in the face of unprecedented obstacles. Many thanks to all who contributed to the successful completion of this project, especially Loren Rives, ACEP Senior Manager of Academic Affairs, without whom this project could not have been completed.

James H. Paxton, MD MBA FACEP
Editor, 2021 Primer
Email: james.paxton@wayne.edu