Weill Medical College of Cornell University

• Home
• Overview
• Education
• Fellowships
• Research
• Faculty

Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluative Sciences Research

Education

The Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluative Sciences Research offers an intensive formal curriculum in clinical research training that has been structured to accommodate trainees with differing needs, backgrounds, and time commitments. Trainees and fellows emerge from our educational programs with the innovative tools necessary to create a state-of-the-art practice and to conduct cutting-edge research.

Our programs draw upon the talents of a unique multidisciplinary research team, comprised of faculty experts in health services research, clinical epidemiology, health education, psychosocial science, biostatistics, data analysis and computer programming, measurement theory, sampling and program evaluation, including cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, medical informatics, decision analysis, survey research, operations research and health economics. Our team is based in many different departments and institutions and conducts a multidisciplinary research conference, teaches a formal curriculum, provides methodological consults to investigators and supports data management and analysis. Additionally, our faculty serves as the core of the Research Methodology Conference (RMC), a bi-weekly multidisciplinary symposium. The objective of this conference is to focus on challenges in research methodology and to address issues that have arisen in the design and conduct of studies. The conference operates as a "think tank" on issues, and includes a full meeting of a multidisciplinary group consisting of clinical epidemiologists, biostatisticians, health educators, health services researchers, health economists, data systems experts, psychologists and cooperating investigators.

Educational Programs in the Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluative Sciences Research

The 2-year Master of Science Degree Program in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services

The Masters Program in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research is based in the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Accredited by the State of New York in 1995, it is designed to train physicians, nurses and experienced health professionals in clinical research methodology to enable them to conduct collaborative, question-driven methodologically rigorous clinical research in a multidisciplinary environment. The program emphasizes conceptual, methodological and practical foundations and provides a research experience that enables students to become independent investigators.

Students develop a basic knowledge of the disciplines of clinical epidemiology, health services research, biostatistics, health economics, qualitative research, clinimetrics, medical informatics, decision analysis, survey research, and behavioral science. They learn how and when to apply different research designs and methods. With appropriate training in a multidisciplinary context, students learn to communicate across and utilize a wide variety of methodological approaches and analytic techniques. They become skilled in the use of data management systems, the conceptual basis of statistical analysis, and the programs and techniques required to analyze their own data. Students also learn about the importance of adapting methods to different cultures, basics of behavioral science and health education, survey methodology, and the protection of human rights in clinical research.

Each Masters student is expected to successfully complete all required courses and to integrate the resultant knowledge and skills to design and conduct a research project in his or her own area of interest with close supervision by mentors. Masters students devote the major portion of their time (70%) to developing and conducting this project. The Program is designed to be completed within two years on a full-time basis, and up to four years on a part-time basis.

The Summer Intensive Program in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research

The Summer Intensive Program in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research is designed for trainees who can dedicate an eight-week time commitment to acquiring fundamental concepts and skills in clinical research design and analysis. The Summer Program will introduce participants to a core of basic knowledge and the skills necessary to plan, conduct and present the results of clinical or health services research studies. With an emphasis on research methodology, participants will learn how and when to apply different research designs and utilize appropriate biostatistical techniques. The integrated program includes seminars in decision analysis, data management and analysis, behavioral science and health education, and techniques for presenting oral and written data. Small-group seminars with interactive lectures comprise the format for each of the curriculum units.

The 2-year AHRQ T32 Fellowship Training Program in Health Services Research

The T32 fellowship training program in Health Services Research is open to physicians from any field who have completed their residencies and who are interested in an academic career in health services research, clinical epidemiology, or health policy. The program is funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Fellows of the T32 Training Program are also enrolled in the Master of Science Degree Program in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research. It is designed to give physicians the skills necessary to conduct methodologically rigorous health services research that will enable them to develop and implement solutions to the nation's pressing health care problems. Fellows have access to faculty with a broad range of expertise including clinical epidemiology, health services research, health economics, health services administration, biostatistics, health policy, health promotion and disease prevention, behavioral science and health education, and medical informatics. We believe that the experience of fellows initiating and carrying out their own projects is key to developing independent investigators with their own unique research trajectory

Since the fellowship began in 1995, of our 36 graduates, 80% are in academic positions and 10% work in applied research settings. As academic faculty, our former fellows have successfully competed for 99 grants. They are the principal investigator on 57 peer reviewed grants, and co-principal investigators on an additional 42 grants. The total funding on grants on which they are either principal investigator or co-principal investigators is $59,828,156. We have an excellent track record of developing physician-investigators, especially minority investigators, who go on to successful peer-review funded careers in health services research. Of our 36 past and current fellows, 31% are African-American or Latino. In total, 91% of our African-American and Latino graduates are currently in academic positions. Two of our African-American graduates are on our faculty.