Ten Commandments of Clinical Research
Stoller and Mireles-Cabodevila present the following ‘Ten Commandments of Clinical Research’:
1. If It Is Not There, You Can’t Use It
— you need the equipment and infrastructure
2. Everything Takes Longer Than You Think!
— research requires extensive preparations and deadlines must be kept: remember Hofstadter’s law.
3. Murphy’s Law Applies To Equipment: If It Can Break, It Will Break
— maintain equipment and have access to replacements.
4. The More Data You Generate, the Longer It Takes To Analyze It
— be judicious in setting the data goals!
5. Everyone Needs Help; It Takes a Village To Do Research
— establish a network of colleagues and mentors
6. No Recruitment, No Study
— You need to recruit patients in a relatively short period of time so that you get on with the rest of the work
7. Interest Always Wanes
8. You Can Always Say “No”
— don’t over-extend: “If you don’t use certain ‘two letter words’ enough (ie, ”no“), you’ll end up using certain ‘four-letter words’ a lot more.”
9. You Need Deadlines
— Deadlines maintain interest, help you identify pitfalls, and may prompt other ideas and projects
10. Turn Every Effort Into a Page
— Look for every opportunity to turn your work into a publication
Reference
- Mireles-Cabodevila E, Stoller JK. Research during fellowship: ten commandments. Chest. 2009 May; 135(5): 1395-9.
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Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at the Alfred ICU in Melbourne. He is also a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University. He is a co-founder of the Australia and New Zealand Clinician Educator Network (ANZCEN) and is the Lead for the ANZCEN Clinician Educator Incubator programme. He is on the Board of Directors for the Intensive Care Foundation and is a First Part Examiner for the College of Intensive Care Medicine. He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives.
After finishing his medical degree at the University of Auckland, he continued post-graduate training in New Zealand as well as Australia’s Northern Territory, Perth and Melbourne. He has completed fellowship training in both intensive care medicine and emergency medicine, as well as post-graduate training in biochemistry, clinical toxicology, clinical epidemiology, and health professional education.
He is actively involved in in using translational simulation to improve patient care and the design of processes and systems at Alfred Health. He coordinates the Alfred ICU’s education and simulation programmes and runs the unit’s education website, INTENSIVE. He created the ‘Critically Ill Airway’ course and teaches on numerous courses around the world. He is one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) and is co-creator of litfl.com, the RAGE podcast, the Resuscitology course, and the SMACC conference.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Twitter, he is @precordialthump.
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