Guidelines for University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine family practice residents required to complete a study.
The following guidelines are for University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Medicine family practice residents assigned to a Fraser Health preceptor who are required to complete a study.
This can be a research, quality improvement, literature summary or other UBC approved project. It is not required that family practice residents complete a research project. Other project activities, such as quality improvement and literature summaries, are allowed.
Research project logistics
Typical research projects take one year to complete.
Year one of residency
- End of first year in Spring (April/May) – Workshop by Department of Evaluation and Research Services.
- Overview of current research ethics submission guidelines.
- Research question development and study feasibility.
Year two of residency
- Summer into Fall – Writing of research protocol.
- Usually takes a month to complete.
- Work with site scholar director and statistician.
- Submission of protocol to research ethics.
- Ensure this is completed by the Fall so you can meet your deadlines.
Data access
- We do not have access to data from family doctors in the community.
- Name of family doctor is not always available in hospital data.
- It can take two to four weeks for Health Business Analytics to respond to data requests.
- A data request to either Health Business Analytics or Health Records can be initiated with the Department Agreement for Providing Research Related Services Form while the study is undergoing ethical review.
- Health Business Analytics and Human Resources will only release the health record and data when the Letter of Authorization to Conduct Research is issued, which includes the Fraser Health Research Ethics Board approval.
- For planning purposes only, Health Business Analytics can be asked whether the data needed to answer the research question is available. Clarify to Health Business Analytics that this request is for planning purposes only and not a request for the data itself. Health Business Analytics will not release data without an Letter of Authorization to Conduct Research.
- Department Agreement for Providing Research Related Services Form is required from Health and Business Analytics for retrospective chart audits that require the provision of a list of chart numbers, and from Health Records for access to physical charts or electronic medical records for individual patients.
Research services
We provide the following services to family practice residents:
- Study feasibility assessment.
- Study design and statistical analysis support, such as protocol development and sample size calculation. This is available on first-come, first-served basis and relies on statistician availability. Statistical and project design support is also available through UBC.
Research ethics review
All information on submissions to our Research Ethics Board is available here.
Recommended process
- Start by contacting us to discuss your study idea.
- Review protocol draft with site scholar director.
- Use our template for research protocols and chart review research protocol template.
- Submit application form, protocol and other study documents to us. Your protocol submission will be reviewed prior to submission to Fraser Health Research Ethics Board. Protocol development is iterative and several revisions may be required.
Tips of speedy ethics review
- Use the Fraser Health logo on ethics documents, such as the consent form and other related documentation.
- Send all required ethics forms and documents in separate files.
- Please send all documents in separate files in a single email with project title clearly marked. Carefully review the application package for completeness prior to submission, as only complete submissions will be reviewed.
- Contact our ethics coordinator if you have questions after reading the guidance documents.
Connect with other service departments
Get in touch with other service departments at Fraser Health to complete your study.