Research Curriculum Competency Toolkit for Geriatric Medicine Specialist Trainees

Published date
Last updated
Authors
British Geriatrics Society
Topic tags
Education, Training and Careers
Research

This toolkit provides suggestions and links to courses, reading material and opportunities for trainees to fulfil the research competencies of the new geriatric medicine curriculum.

The new 2022 curriculum places a greater emphasis on trainee engagement with research, stating that “Academic Geriatric Medicine is crucial to maintaining clinical excellence in an ageing population, and older people remain under-represented in the evidence base for clinical practice.” This toolkit aims to provide links to courses, reading material and opportunities for trainees to fulfil these research competencies.

This list is not comprehensive but hopefully provides a starting point. We are constantly looking to update this, so please get in touch with any helpful resources you come across: national, regional and local.

Broadly, trainees will be expected to be competent in basic research methodology, ethical principles of research, performing a literature search, and critical appraisal of medical literature. These requirements are detailed in Table 1, along with links to useful resources and examples of relevant activities.

Trainees will also be expected to:
 

Complete a research methodology course

Other sources
  • Many universities also offer modules on research methodology which may be accessible.
  • Further courses and training resources may be available locally via your deanery.

Complete Good Clinical Practice training

  • Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
    This is “the international ethical, scientific and practical standard to which all clinical research is conducted.”  Everyone involved in research must complete training in Good Clinical Practice.  The free course (for people with an NHS.net email) provided by NIHR takes around 4 hours to complete and provides a comprehensive overview of the key components to GCP.

Gain experience of recruiting participants to clinical studies

Nothing beats some hands-on experience of recruiting participants to studies. Of course, in order to do this, you will first need to complete your GCP training (see above).  There is often some study specific training required and you will need to complete a brief CV to be added to the delegation log. 

To find people local to you who are recruiting participants to studies, we recommend speaking to someone within your trust who is doing research. This person does not necessarily have to be a geriatrician. If you do not immediately know of someone, you could email the Research & Development department within your Trust to find out which studies are registered in your trust and volunteer to help. 

Here are some other useful links to find people engaged in research:

We hope that completion of the new research-related components of the curriculum will ignite a lifelong interest in and engagement with clinical research.  As geriatricians, it is vital that we support research involving older people to ensure that the results of studies are applicable to our patients and to drive forward advances in the care of older people.  As a geriatrician, you have unique skills in assessing capacity as well as advocating for our patients, all of which are transferable and vital to the world of research.  For those looking to dive a bit deeper, we have added some additional resources (hyperlink here to additional resources) which may be of interest.   

Table 1

Descriptors

Relevant resources

Examples of relevant activities

Manages clinical information/data appropriately

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training

Complete trust application for approval of a QIP, audit or research project, which usually includes a section on how data will be managed. Caldicott approval may also be required if patient identifiable data is being collected and stored.

Understands principles of research and academic writing

Submit an abstract to a conference or get involved in the writing of an academic publication. Review articles may be a good place to start. This will likely involve working with a research active supervisor. Put yourself forward to co-write a collaborative research publication, with GeMRC, for example.

Demonstrates ability to carry out critical appraisal of the literature

Present at a journal club meeting.

Cochrane Crowd and Task Exchange offer opportunities to get involved in Cochrane reviews without having to do one yourself. Cochrane is an international network which gathers and summarizes the best evidence from research to help you make informed choices about treatment. For more information, see here.

Understands the role of evidence in clinical practice and demonstrates shared decision making with patients

Evidence in clinical practice is summarised and then guidance developed by organisations including NICE and Cochrane. They include limitations of the literature which can be relevant to discussions with patients.

 

Demonstrates appropriate knowledge of research methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches in scientific enquiry

 

A research methodology course will also cover this.

Demonstrates appropriate knowledge of research principles and concepts and the translation of research into practice

 

Demonstrate (for example, through an SLE) understanding of how research papers influence clinical guidelines and subsequently practice. Discuss the challenges of applying evidence-based medicine in frail, older adults. Older adults are underrepresented in studies, and there are specific challenges around applying findings from whole population research to older adults.

Follows guidelines on ethical conduct in research and consent for research

 

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training will provide an overview of this.

First hand involvement of recruiting participants to studies including ensuring appropriate consent/proxy consent is in place for studies and formal ethics approval for studies has been sought where required.

Understands public health epidemiology and global health patterns

 

Trainees involved in epidemiological research may be able to demonstrate through presentation/ publication.

 

Recognises potential of applied informatics, genomics, stratified risk and personalised medicine and seeks advice for patient benefit when appropriate

 

Indicate an understanding of the evolving position regarding genomics and personalised medicine.

Further resources

Further resources

  • The British Geriatrics Society has developed a research hub (Research | British Geriatrics Society (bgs.org.uk).
  • Statistical training: BMJ Learning (www.learning.bmj.com) offers two courses on statistics. BMJ Learning membership is included if you are a BMA member, alternatively many hospitals will provide access via Open Athens/Shibboleth.
  • Introduction to Randomised Controlled Trials https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/randomised-controlled-trials
    This three-week course from the University of Birmingham guides you through the lifecycle of a trial from conception to publication. Topics covered are: The rationale, design and first steps of a randomised controlled trial; The importance of statistics and the planning and set-up of a trial; Delivery of a trial, the analysis and dissemination of trial findings. You can access the course for free however this does have a time-limit of 3 weeks; there are paid options which provide unlimited access and certification on course completion.
Some recommended books on research concepts:
  • Greenhalgh T (2006) How to Read a Paper. The Basics of Evidence-Based Medicine. Blackwell, Oxford – very accessible handbook on fundamental concepts of evidence-based medicine, medical statistics, study bias, and how to critically appraise a paper.
  • Spiegelhalter D (2020) The Art of Statistics: Learning from Data. Pelican Books -Prof Spiegelhalter became a national treasure during the pandemic, with numerous TV, radio broadcasts and newspaper articles demystifying the numbers behind covid data. This book guides the reader through the essential principles we need in order to derive knowledge from data, discussing real world examples: could serial killer Harold Shipman could have been caught earlier, if screening for ovarian cancer is beneficial, and if busier hospitals have higher survival rates.

More information

Research Hub

The BGS Research Hub is curated and updated by the BGS Research and Academic Development Committee (RADC) and aims to bring together information relating to research into older people's health and

Research Hub