A wide range of projects are available to residents during the dedicated research year. The specific topic is decided upon by the individual resident. It is encouraged that residents seek out research in areas related to their developing clinical interests. Oftentimes, residents are inspired by problems they face in the clinical care of patients or by faculty and Grand Rounds speakers. Residents with a good research background and a desire to design their own project should identify faculty mentors who have the resources to start something new. Those with less research experience can look for faculty mentors with ongoing projects to which they can contribute.
Yes. Residents who take this route should work with faculty mentors to develop clinical projects or other academic activities that can lead to publications.
In principle, residents can work with any faculty member at Penn. Previous residents have been mentored by faculty within neurosurgery but also in bioengineering, radiology, neurology, neuroscience, the Institute for Medicine and Engineering, the Nano/Bio Interface Center, the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, the Center for Brain Injury and Repair, the Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Residents are encouraged to work with faculty with a track record of and interest in mentorship, as well as well focused expertise in their area of study. They can also take advantage of the rich collaborative research environment at Penn by identifying co-mentors. Arrangements that have worked well in the past include co-mentorship teams including one basic science and one clinical faculty member, one junior and one senior faculty member, or one mentor from neurosurgery and one from another department. These co-mentorship arrangements provide the benefit of committed intellectual input from two sources with different points of view, as well as the resources and expertise of two labs.
Residents are assigned a faculty mentor during their intern year. As time passes and they have a clear understanding of what their clinical and research interests are, they can switch mentors as they see fit. Discussing their interests with Dr. Yoshor, the program directors, and fellow residents can help provide recommendations for mentors. Searching Penn websites, such as those listed below, is another route for identifying mentors.
- Penn Neurosurgery Department
- Penn Center for Brain Injury and Repair
- Penn Neurology Department
- Penn Neuroscience Department
- Penn Institute for Neurological Sciences
- The Walter Flato Goodman Center for Comparative Medical Genetics
- Penn Cell and Developmental Biology Department
- Penn Center for Neurodegenerative Disease
- Research Penn Bioengineering Department
- Penn Radiology Department
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute
Residents are encouraged to write research proposals and apply for individual grant awards from extramural funding sources. In the past, residents have successfully acquired NIH F32 grants, Neurosurgery Research and Educational Foundation (NREF) awards, and industry-sponsored grants. Now available to residents is the UE5 program. Residents also have access to the T32 Brain Injury Training Grant and the T32 Training Grant in Neuroengineering and Medicine. Other training grants outside of neurosurgery are also available to residents. Residents should discuss relevant deadlines with their mentor as soon as they have committed to a project.
Grant writing is an essential part of research training. Academic neurosurgeons are commonly expected to write or contribute to K grants, R01 awards, and program project grants at their institution. As soon as residents identify their research mentor(s), they can begin formulating their project and writing a grant proposal.
There are four key goals:
- To get experience in summarizing the literature, formulating a hypothesis with a strong premise, and presenting supporting preliminary data in a compelling way
- To become familiar with NIH formats and the submission/review process
- To clarify the research goals and methodologies with the mentor before starting in the lab, in order to "hit the ground running"
- To bolster the resident’s research credentials for future faculty positions. Successfully competing extramural funding is especially beneficial for residents seeking to obtain a position at an academic institution
Past residents have submitted their research proposal to one or more of the following sources: NIH (e.g., NRSA post-doctoral fellowships), AANS/CNS/NREF, medical device companies, and R25/T32 training grants.
Residents are expected to generate a body of novel research and publish it. The faculty mentors are aware of the time constraints that apply to residents and will work with residents to keep their project focused.
Penn has a large number of core facilities that can help speed up the technical aspects of research.
The time is fairly well protected. Lab residents are expected to cover the HUP OR when the chief residents are away for meetings or job interviews.
Residents may attend the national neurosurgical meetings (AANS and CNS) when their work is accepted for oral presentation. During their research time residents may attend specialty meetings where their presentations have been accepted.
Residents are encouraged to take the written board exam for credit as a PGY4. The exam should be taken for credit no later than the PGY5 year.