Research Curriculum and Plan
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship

All fellows in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) fellowship training program are required to participate in meaningful research. The goal of the fellowship program is to provide trainees with tools to identify a research mentor, an appropriate research project, and provide adequate protected time to complete the project and submit for publication with the appropriate guidance.

Educational Objectives

  • Understand how to develop a hypothesis and research question
  • Understand how to construct an experiment or study design
  • Have a basic understanding of common laboratory skills and techniques
  • Understand the Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications process for clinical research
  • Understand the concept behind and usage of relational databases
  • Understand the basics of research statistics

Year 1

It should be clear that clinical activities will occupy most of the first-year fellow’s time. In many cases, however, clinical research projects can be initiated/joined and it is possible for significant clinical research to be conducted within the first year, often leading to presentations at regional and national meetings.

Year 2

The second fellowship year is devoted to the initiation of specific research training arranged with a mentor in the division. This is protected time and careful planning will ensure that productivity will result. One can elect to participate in any experience, including both basic and clinical research.  Once a fellow has established a research project, they are expected to present their proposal/preliminary data at the Fellows Research Conference (see below) in November/December.  In total, fellows will have approximately 5-6 six months in this year to initiate their project.

In addition, to introduce the basics of clinical research, fellows will participate in GMS 7093 in the first month (July) of their second year of training.  This course is offered by the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute to those interested in patient-oriented research careers.  It is a highly interactive series of 11 sessions led by leading faculty in the UF Health Science Center. It includes basic elements of study design, database design and management, health center resources, regulatory issues, and biostatistical considerations.  The course also includes practical, interactive small-group sessions to develop an interdisciplinary protocol.

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Year 3

This year is a continuation of the second-year experience.  Fellows will have approximately 5-6 months in this year protected to complete their project; they are expected to present their data at the Fellows Research Conference (see below) in April/May and to submit their results to a selected regional or national meeting or for consideration for publication.

Fellows Research Conference

The Fellows Research Conference is a core conference of the PCCM program and takes place on all Mondays (except for the first Monday of the month) from 12-1.  This is a lecture-based curriculum that repeats on a yearly basis.  The first six months focuses on an introduction to the research mission of the Division, along with lectures that emphasis the fundamentals principles that underly the basic science research conducted here.  The second six months focuses on practical applications of conducting research, as well as research-focused Journal Clubs.  As indicated above, this is also the forum where fellows will present their research project to the Division’s faculty and fellows, as well their data/conclusions at the completion of their fellowship training.

Topics Addressed in the Lecture Series

  • Fundamental basic science laboratory techniques
  • Basics of lung Immunology
  • Basics of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics
  • Understanding mechanisms underlying fibrosis
  • Understanding mechanisms of vascular disease / injury
  • Conducting a comprehensive literature search
  • Using and utilizing EndNote
  • How to develop specific aims/writing and submitting a grant
  • Basic research statistics
  • Research-based Journal Club