Goals & Objectives

Overall Goals of the Clinician Investigator Program

The fundamental aim of the Royal College Clinician Investigator Program is to provide trainees with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to embark on a successful career in health research. In most cases, further research training specific to the candidate’s field of interest will be required so that he/she can succeed as an independent investigator.

During the two years of the research component in the continuous training (CT) pathway, some time may be spent in clinical activity related to the research; however, the majority of time (at least 80%) must be devoted to research. In the distributive curriculum training (DCT) pathway, the requirement during the 27 month research component is to dedicate 75% of time to research, to accommodate integration of clinical training that would normally be undertaken in the PGY3 year of specialty/subspecialty training. In the fractionated training (FT) pathway, the requirement during the (minimum) 24 month research component is to dedicate at least 80% of time to research in the periods of 3 months or longer blocks, with one year of continuous research training.

CIP educational objectives comply with the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada CanMEDS competency guidelines.

For more information, visit the “Specific Standards of Accreditation” section of the Royal College Website.

Medical Research Expert

Effectively manages activities for career development, including integration of clinical and research activities

Communicator

Communicates clearly with research participants to establish rapport, trust, and ethical relationships.
Effectively writes manuscripts.
Effectively presents own work orally at lab meetings, research seminars, thesis advisory committee meetings, scientific meetings, and able to defend and discuss the presentation in an articulate and polished manner.

Collaborator

Communicates clearly with peers and other professionals to establish rapport, trust and ethical relationships.
Participates effectively and appropriately in interprofessional research teams, including working with others to prevent misunderstandings, manage differences and resolve conflicts.
Forms effective collaborative relationships within the scientific community, where appropriate.

Leader

Effectively and efficiently manages research project and resources (financial and materials)
Serves in administration and leadership roles, as appropriate to their research career

Health Advocate

Demonstrates appreciation of social economic and biologic factors that impact health research.
Advocates for the best interest for subjects/participants involved in research. Demonstrates concern that research subjects have access to appropriate supports, information, and service.
Promotes research knowledge translation to patients, populations, communities, other stakeholders, as appropriate.

Scholar

Effectively writes research proposals, reports, grand proposals and manuscripts.
Establishes and maintain knowledge and understanding of general principles and fundamentals of research, including research ethics.
Establishes and maintains knowledge and understanding of the specialized topics in the specific area of research.
Elicits, synthesizes, and critically evaluates information and applies it appropriately to research.
Demonstrates overall competence in techniques required for the research project (i.e. experiment design, data collection and management, and analysis).
Demonstrates overall competence in analyzing and interpreting the results of an experiment.
Consults appropriately for feedback on knowledge and performance.

Professional

Demonstrate commitment to profession, society, research participants, patients and collaborators through absolute objectivity, honesty, and adherence to ethical standards in the conduct and reporting of research