Introduction

Protected time continues to remain an expressed need of many clinician scholars to accomplish their scholarship goals, in addition to the assistance that is available through the MaineHeath Institute for Research, MMC Institute for Teaching Excellence and the BBCH Scholars Academy. In addition, faculty mentorship of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residents is critical to the successful completion of resident scholarship requirements during the three or four years of residency. To address these needs, we have started a pilot initiative called the BBCH Faculty Resident Scholarship Program (FRSP). This program will support up to 0.1 FTE of protected time for faculty members to mentor residents on a scholarly project. The expectation of program participation is regional or national dissemination of scholarship products within 2 years of start of participation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible to apply?

MMP Physicians with a Tufts Faculty Appointment who are working with a Pediatric or Internal Medicine-Pediatrics resident on a scholarship project (research, quality improvement, education, and advocacy) are eligible to apply. Applicants must additionally be current members of the BBCH Scholarship Academy. The project must involve a resident in substantial contributions to project design; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; and the drafting, revising, and final approval of the presentation or publication. Participation of a TUSM medical student is optional, but encouraged.

What do FRSP participants receive?

FRSP participants will receive 0.1 FTE for 12 months of time to work with a resident to implement and analyze the results of a project that will lead to scholarly output (an abstract, presentation, or workshop presented at a regional or national meeting and/or peer reviewed paper) within two years. It is up to the scholar and their Division Leadership to determine the faculty’s schedule of clinical and scholarship time. If faculty members want to work together on a project, 0.05 FTE for two scholars may be awarded for a total of 0.1 FTE per project.

How are applications reviewed and selected?

Following an initial screening of the Specific Aims Page by the Pediatric Department and Pediatric Residency leadership, applications will be scored by the BBCH Scholars Academy Steering Committee and the MMC Pediatric Residency Scholarship Rotation leader. The scoring will be guided by a rubric for evaluation and applicants that receive top scores will be selected for this program.

Successful applications will have the following characteristics:

  • Faculty will have a demonstrated expertise in the area of the proposed project
  • One or more resident(s) will be co-investigator(s) in the project
  • The proposed project will be well-designed and feasible
  • The proposed project will align with one or more of our priority areas in Children’s Health:
    • Care team wellbeing
    • Care team training & support
    • Care coordination & connections
    • Patient care – inpatient and/or outpatient
    • Community & environmental health

The proposed project will be focused enough to produce a scholarly product (abstract, curriculum, workshop, eLearning module, manuscript, etc.) for regional or national dissemination within 2 years of start of program award.

What will be required of me during program participation?

For continued award of 0.1 FTE throughout the 12-month period of award:

    • Mentor participates in quarterly meetings with FRSP leadership during the course of the 12 months to report on their mentor-mentee relationship, their progress toward goals/timeline, and to receive support for their project success
    • Mentor supports the mentee presentation at and attends the semiannual Faculty-Resident presentations to a group composed of members of the MMC Pediatric Residency Scholarship Oversight Committee and the BBCH Scholars Academy Steering Committee
    • Mentor co-presents with their mentee at one BBCH Scholars Academy Work-in-Progress meeting
    • Mentor attends educational offerings that support the project (including other BBCH SA WIP meetings and BBCH Scholars Academy Lunch & Learns
    • In addition to any other products of scholarship, the mentor and mentee dyad submit an abstract to the annual MaineHealth Institute for Research Lambrew Research Retreat
    • Mentor responds to annual questionnaires and surveys regarding scholarship at the BBCH, including at the end of the funding year
    • Mentor responds to requests for presentations, publications, and extramural funding that arise from the supported project

What support will I have during program participation?

Participants will have access to support from the FRSP leadership team and BBCH Scholars Academy data analyst as well as additional project-specific supports, as needed.

I am a current or past FRSP awardee. How do I reapply?

Since you have likely made changes to your project, have a new project, and/or have a new mentee, you will reapply with a written application as you did when you previously applied. You will apply with a Specific Aims page, Project Proposal, Mentorship Agreement and Timeline, Letter of Support & Tufts-Formatted Curriculum Vitae. If any documents are unchanged from your previous submission, please submit the document anyway and let us know in your email which documents are unchanged from the past year.

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FRSP Application Submission Deadlines

Fall Start Applications Due: Friday August 25, 2023 at 5pm EST

Spring Start Applications Due: Friday February 9, 2024 at 5pm EST

Please see the guidance below for drafting and compiling your application materials. Please email Sarah.Gabrielson@mainehealth.org your application materials by the due date. Applicants will be notified one month from submission if their application was accepted. MaineHealth IRB approval of applicant projects is required for all first-time applicants before the start of the 0.1 FTE award. IRB approval is NOT required for applicants who are reapplying. If accepted into the program, the BBCH SA Coordinator, Sarah Gabrielson, will facilitate the FTE process with department and division managers.

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FRSP Application Guidance

Application submission formatting requirements:

  • Arial or Times New Roman, 11-point font
  • No smaller than 0.5 inch margins
  • Single spaced
  • Please submit as a Word document with title “FRSP [Section Title] [First Initial & Last Name of Applicant]”

Contents of the FRSP Application

  • Specific Aims page
  • Project Proposal
  • Mentorship Agreement and Timeline
  • Letter of Support
  • Tufts-Formatted Curriculum Vitae

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Specific Aims Page

Please provide a one-page Specific Aims page with the below outlined sections.

INTRODUCTION

Identify an important problem

  • Hook the reader with your first sentence
  • Describe the magnitude of the problem
  • Identify what is already known and what the gap is in current knowledge

Introduce your project

  • Tell us why there is a critical need for your work
  • Define the consequences for not addressing the problem
  • Suggests a project to fill the gap in knowledge

APPROACH

Define your project

  • State the goal of the project (what do you hope to accomplish with this project?)
  • Define your objective and the project design (and, if research, your central hypothesis)

Propose 1-2 specific aims

  • Make sure that your aims do not depend on one another for success
  • Format each aim in bold text (followed by a hypothesis, if research)
  • For each specific aim:
    • Describe the who, what, where, and when (including sample size, if research) needed to accomplish each aim
    • Mention a plan for data collection, management, and analysis

IMPACT

Anticipate the impact of the project

  • Describe the likely impact of your project on the problem, the field, and future research
  • Describe the contribution of this project on your career development (and, if a mentee has already been identified, the contribution of this project on your mentee’s career development)

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Project Proposal

Page Limit: 5 pages; please be concise

  • If your project is research that has already received IRB approval, please submit your approved project proposal/protocol along with your Maine Medical Center/MaineHealth Institutional Review Board approval letter.
  • Instead, if you will be seeking IRB approval following acceptance into the FRSP program, please submit a project proposal referring to the guidance offered by the MMC/MH IRB for research studies that would be reviewed under the exempt status: Protocol Guidance for Exempt Projects. If you believe your project to be more than minimal risk to participants please email Sarah.Gabrielson@mainehealth.org for additional guidance.
  • If your project is not research (including quality improvement, program evaluation, or advocacy) and you have already received a Research Determination from the IRB, please submit your project summary and IRB letter deeming your project Not Human Subjects Research. Email Sarah.Gabrielson@mainehealth.org for guidance on project summary elements.
  • Regardless of the type of project, please include a detailed analysis plan with examples of statistical tests or improvement methods that you plan to use during your project.

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Mentorship Agreement & Project Timeline

Please answer the following questions in a word document. The document will serve as the first draft of a living agreement between you and your mentee(s).

Page Limit: 2 pages

Mentor and Mentee Relationship

  1. What substantial contributions are expected from the mentee related to scholarship activities (project design; data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation; and the drafting, revising and approval of abstracts, poster/platform presentations, and/or publications)?
  2. What specific skills does the mentee hope to gain (REDCap, IRB project submission, EndNote, poster and presentation creation, etc.)?
  3. How will the mentor provide project oversight and support resident learning?
  4. What mentorship skills does the mentor hope to gain through participation in the FRSP?
  5. How will the mentor schedule their protected time for scholarship activities?
  6. What challenges do you anticipate in meeting your project timeline and how do you plan to address them?

Anticipated Meetings between Mentor and Mentee

  • How often will meetings be held?
  • How will meetings be held (in-person/virtual)?
  • Who will set agendas?
  • How will meetings and agendas be communicated?

Mentor and Mentee Attestation

☐  As a mentor, I will work to establish the trust of my mentee, communicate openly and frequently with my mentee, be flexible, and provide guidance and resources needed by my mentee to contribute meaningfully to this scholarship project.

Signature:
Date:

☐  As a mentee, I will be open to constructive criticism, I will take initiative, and I will follow through on my obligations. I will communicate frequently and share when I need more support.  I will make it a priority to co-present at the BBCH Scholarship Academy Work-in-Progress session with my Mentor.

Signature:
Date:

Project Timeline

Please modify tasks & dates, and add check marks to fit your project plans.

PROJECT TASKS

Ownership

Month(s)

Study Designed & Planned
Management Plan Created
Data Collection Tool Created
Project Proposal Draft Completed
Project Submitted to MMC IRB
Project Approved by MMC IRB
Data Collected
Data Analyzed
Poster/Presentation Draft Completed
Poster/Presentation Abstract(s) Submitted
Poster/Presentation(s) Presented
Manuscript Draft Completed
Manuscript Submitted

 

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Letter of Support

Please provide a letter of support on division letterhead from the applicant’s division director indicating support for release from 0.1 FTE of clinical duties. Please define the roles and names of the people responsible for the approval and coordination of FTE changes for the applicant. Please indicate that clinical coverage will allow for the applicant’s participation in the FRSP.

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Tufts-Formatted Curriculum Vitae

Please follow the Tufts-Formatted CV template available on the Maine Medical Center Institute for Teaching Excellence Academic Promotion Resources Page

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Please email Sarah.Gabrielson@mainehealth.org with any questions about the BBCH SA Faculty Resident Scholarship Program.