Emergency Medicine
Focus Groups

Focus Groups

The Division of Emergency Medicine structures its research activities into four  groups: clinical, education, prevention and quality.

Investigators participate on a team or teams that best complement their areas of study. The teams meet regularly to support members’ research projects, to collaborate on group projects and to provide educational opportunities to team members. Investigators are required to vet research projects (at any stage) through their respective groups, benefiting both investigator and group. Teams include one or more members from outside institutions or divisions, and often include researchers from the University of Cincinnati Department of Emergency Medicine. 

The clinical research focus group conducts patient-centered research in a variety of clinical diseases. Group members have projects ranging from the epidemiology of disease, translational research, clinical trials and implementation of best practice in clinical care. Within the group, there are strong interests in asthma / bronchiolitis, medical resuscitation, traumatic brain injury, child abuse and trauma. This group also coordinates our hospital’s research participation in the HRSA / EMSC-funded national research group referred to as Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. Lynn Babcock, MD and Richard Ruddy, MD co-chair the group. Carolyn Kercsmar, MD, professor in the Division of Pulmonology and a nationally recognized leader in asthma research, acts as our outside content expert and advises our group about many facets of clinical research. Our full group meets monthly on the third Thursday of the month. Our group provides mentorship and guidance to each other to produce high-quality clinical research.

 

The prevention research focus group centers on screening and intervention-based clinical research. Our current research areas are tobacco cessation, mental health engagement, sexually transmitted infection notification and injury prevention, many of which are funded by the National Institutes of Health. We have eight faculty who, along with dedicated research coordinators, conduct ED-based research with interventions often extending beyond the ED stay. Lisa Vaughn, PhD, leads the group, with content expertise by Bob Ammerman. The group meets the fourth Wednesday of every other month (January, March, May, July, September, November) at 11 am.

The education research group is comprised of several vibrant educators, both faculty and fellows, many of whom have successful backgrounds in education administration, research, and innovation. The group focuses its research and scholarly efforts in a two main areas. First, the group has a long-standing history of work that seeks to better understand and improve the educational curriculum and assessment of medical students, residents and fellows. Second, the group is continuing to expand its work over the past few years related to the important impact that education has on optimal patient care. In contemporary medical education, aligning education to meet the needs of populations of patients is critically important and often overlooked. Recognizing the importance of dissemination to making contributions to the broader education community as well as to the promotion of its members, the education research group publishes in peer-reviewed journals, presents abstracts at national and international conferences, and speaks nationally and internationally on education topics.

 

The quality research focus group conducts research aimed at improving the care provided to our patients. We are a diverse group, but most spend a significant portion of their professional time improving clinical care. Several of our members have advanced training in QI methodology and QI research. Our current emphasis is developing a portfolio of projects built around the ED care themes of diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic reliability. The group is co-led by Evaline Alessandrini, MD and Scott Reeves, MD.

 

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