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Training
Educational
Programs
The Mission of the
Education Program is to provide quality training experiences to (in order
of resource allocation): junior faculty, formal post-doctoral fellows,
formal doctoral student fellows/interns, formal pre-doctoral interns,
and informal/unfunded interns).
The scope of the Houston
Center's training activity has increased significantly over the last years.
In addition to the post-doctoral fellowship program, the training mission
of the Section includes: MIRECC fellows training, clinical fellows training,
emphasis on training of and collaboration with minority students and faculty,
increased VA and non-VA career development awards and fellowships, and
institutional training grants. These efforts are described below. The
post-doctoral program design is the blueprint for many of the other programs,
and so will be described at greater length.
Post-Doctoral
Programs
For more information
regarding post-doctoral programs, contact Jessica
Davila or click here.
VA
Office of Academic Affairs-Funded Post-Doctoral Program
The Center's post-doctoral
training program is designed to create an environment in which post-doctoral
fellows can mature into independent health services researchers capable
of and interested in pursuing research that will contribute to the ability
of the Department of Veterans Affairs to fulfill its health care mission.
At the Center, trainees work closely with a mentoring team. This team
includes a primary advisor, an established researcher with a common research
interests, and one or two other researchers with methodological or other
skills important for the trainees' progress. Established researchers play
a role of ensuring knowledge is advanced, not merely exchanged. Post-doctoral
fellows are included in all activities of the research team leader, in
accordance with the fellowship's purpose of producing independent health
services researchers. In addition, a bi-weekly New Faculty/Post-Doctoral
Fellow seminar series provides introductory information on the Center's
procedures, the US and VA health care systems, academic medicine and career
advancement guidelines, and topics in health services research.
Since 1993, 10 trainees
have entered the fellowship program. Many have had research that was completed
during the fellowship period published in refereed journals. The majority
of past trainees continue to pursue research in academic and medical centers
across the nation.
VA MD Fellowship
The Houston VA Medical Center Health Services Research and Development
(HSR&D) Center of Excellence is accepting applications from recent
doctoral degree graduates for a VA MD fellowship in health services research.
The goal of the fellowship
is to develop independent health services research physician investigators.
The fellow will receive didactic and experiential training in health care
research concepts and methodology, and is expected to develop a research
agenda and conduct a research project under the direction of a mentoring
team in health care outcomes, quality, access, utilization, or cost. Research
foci of the Center include: measuring the quality and outcomes of care
in a variety of areas (liver cancer, dementia care, nursing home care,
geriatrics, primary care, cardiology); exploring racial disparities in
health care access and provision; analyzing utilization and costs of HIV-infected
patients; incorporating patient preferences in treatment decisions; determining
the effects of reimbursement mechanisms; and health services research
measurement issues. The Center includes 14 physician investigators and
12 PhD investigators, representing the following disciplines: epidemiology,
biostatistics, psychometrics, psychiatry, clinical psychology, industrial/organizational
psychology, sociology, and economics. All investigators and fellows have
positions in the Baylor College of Medicine Department of Medicine, Section
of Health Services Research. The Center is committed to quality training,
and has a structured mentoring program that ensures all fellows receive
intensive support and supervision in their efforts to develop as a researcher.
Overview
The fellowship term is two years (second year reserved for fellows making
satisfactory progress). Approximately 75% of the time will be devoted
to research and educational activities, and 25% will be devoted to clinical
activities. The curriculum should include such content areas as quality
improvement methods, leadership skills, patient safety investigations
and other areas of significant interest to the VA.
Compensation
The stipend will be based on years of previously complete Accreditation
Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited physician residency
training and on VA stipend rates based on the local indexed hospital.
The HSR&D will provide $7,000 per year in research support, but expenses
connected to the fellow's recruitment, educational activities, transportation,
housing arrangements, or research are not funded under this program. Fellows
will be protected from personal liability while providing professional
services as a trainee at a VA facility under the Federal Employees Liability
Reform and Tort Compensation Act. There is no service obligation after
completion of the fellowship program is conducted; however; fellows are
encouraged to seek VA employment.
Physician Fellow Selection
Criteria
Only applicants of high quality will be approved for this fellowship.
Qualified candidates must have completed an ACGME residency program and
not be enrolled simultaneously in any other post-residency program; be
ABMS or ECCOPT certified or eligible with demonstration of active pursuit
of board certification; have an active, unrestricted U.S. medical license;
be a U.S. citizen; and demonstrate special interest in the HSR&D Centers
of Excellence (COE) focus.
To apply, please provide
the following documents:
1. Curriculum vita.
2. Statement of research interest and career plans.
3. Three letters of reference.
Following review of these materials, selected applicants will be invited
to participate in a one-day interview process. At such time, an official
transcript, and a writing sample (a publication or a manuscript in submission
or preparation) will be requested. The fellowship term begins July 1,
2006.
Please
send all information to: Jessica Davila, PhD, Education Director,
Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies,
VAMC (152), 2002 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030 or e-mail
jdavila@bcm.tmc.edu for questions. The deadline for receipt
of this application is May 1, 2007. However, we will be reviewing
applications as received and may select our fellows prior
to this deadline. Therefore, expediency is important! The
Department of Veterans Affairs is an equal opportunity employer.
VA
MIRECC Post-Doctoral Program
In 2002, the
South Central Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC)
was awarded a Special Mental Illness Research Fellowship Program in Advanced
Psychology/Psychiatry. This program includes two slots per year (one for
a psychologist and one for a psychiatrist) and has a health services research
track and a neuroscience track. The Houston Center is proud to support
the health services research track by housing that fellow in the Center,
providing infrastructure support, and most importantly, providing mentoring
support.
See the following
link:
- http://www.va.gov/oaa/specialfellows/programs/SF_AdvPsy.asp
Post-Doctoral Training Program in Primary Care
Research
HCQCUS also houses and mentors physician fellows with health services
research interests through the HRSA-funded Post-Doctoral Training Program
in Primary Care Research held by Dr. David Hyman, Baylor College of Medicine,
Department of Family and Community Medicine.
Clinical
Scientist Training Program
HCQCUS also participates in the Clinical Scientist Training Program at
Baylor College of Medicine. This program is committed to educating and
training highly motivated individuals to become successful, independent
clinical investigators and future leaders in academic medicine and biomedical
research. It is designed primarily for junior faculty and senior sub-specialty
fellows at Baylor. HCQCUS teaches the health services research module
for the Clinical Investigation for the Career Scientist course, contributes
to the Fundamentals in Clinical Investigation course, and provides limited
health services mentoring for CSTP students.
TSU
Collaboration
Collaborative research and methodological mentoring has also begun between
faculty at Texas Southern University, a Historically Black College, and
faculty at the center. Dr. Nora Osemene, under the mentoring of Dr. Robert
Morgan of the Houston Center, applied for and was awarded a VA Minority
Supplement Grant.
Doctoral
and Pre-Doctoral Training
Internships
HCQCUS provides formal-funded, formal-unfunded, and informal-unfunded
research internship opportunities for doctoral students, medical residents,
medical students, physician's assistant students, and undergraduates.
The number and funding status of internships varies depending on available
financial and mentoring resources. Contact Donna Espadas for more information.
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