MERC Workshop Descriptions

MERC  |  Day One  |  Day Two  |  Day Three  |  Day Four

Day One, March 30, 2019

MERC
7:00 AM - 12:00 PM / CME from MERC
MERC1: Formulating Research Questions & Designing Studies
Faculty: Sheila Chauvin, PhD, MEd

In this workshop, participants will brainstorm research ideas, write, and refine a measurable research question. They will discuss when IRB approval is required for their study. The basics of research design will be discussed and applied to their selected research question. Participants will be able to:

• write a FINER (feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, relevant) educational research question;
• specify an educational research area of interest;
• evaluate whether they need IRB approval for their study;
• select the correct design for their research question

MERC
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM / CME from MERC
MERC2: Searching & Evaluating Medical Education Literature
Faculty: Sheila Chauvin, PhD, MEd

This workshop is intended for individuals, medical educators, and clinician educators who want to learn how to effectively search the published medical education literature and to evaluate the value of those searches. After participating in this workshop, learners will be able to:

• formulate an effective approach to searching the medical education literature;
• conduct a search using relevant MeSH headings;
• communicate effectively with a research librarian;
• evaluate the search results using specific review criteria.

MERC Day Two, March 31, 2019

MERC
8:45 AM - 12:00 PM / CME from MERC
MERC3: Introduction to Qualitative Data Collection Methods
Faculty: Sheila Chauvin, PhD, MEd

This workshop is intended for physicians and generalists in medical education, as well as faculty and staff involved in student affairs, who wish to develop perspectives and skills for collecting qualitative data, such as data from focus group discussions, interviews, observation field notes, and responses to open-ended questions—used in admissions processes, program development, curriculum evaluation, needs assessments, performance evaluation, and various scholarship and research applications.

After participating in this workshop, learners will be able to:

• Demonstrate applied knowledge of the appropriate selection, use, and standards for rigor of some common methods for collection of qualitative data;
• Generate research questions appropriate for qualitative studies and choose appropriate data collection methods;
• Demonstrate applied knowledge of approaches to achieve rigor in the design of qualitative studies and collection of qualitative data;
• Demonstrate essential skills required for conducting focus groups