Development of research methods curriculum for an integrated care fellowship

Objective: To describe the design and delivery of a curriculum in research methods for clinical fellows in integrated care. Method: To design the curriculum, a standard curriculum development approach was applied through an iterative improvement process with input from researchers, clinical educators, and the first cohort of fellows. The curriculum has three central goals: (1) develop fellows' capacity to interpret the integrated care literature and apply findings in practice; (2) develop fellows' capacity for conducting quality improvement programs informed by knowledge of clinical research methods; and (3) enhance workforce capacity for practice-based research partnerships by increasing research understanding among clinical providers. A variety of educational strategies were employed to introduce each research method and apply these to the integrated care literature. Results: A description, rationale, and resources for each content domain is presented. The curriculum was delivered to two cohorts of fellows. Evaluation data supports the curriculum's relevance and quality. Conclusions: A rigorous development process yielded a brief research curriculum targeting the needs of clinical fellows in integrated care. The curriculum is well-received by fellows and adaptable for other subspecialties. It may serve as a model for other clinical training programs seeking to enhance their fellows' fluency in research methods.