Blog Week 5: Variety of Studies

As I continue to work with the Maimonides Research Department, I have quickly noticed a variety of research studies go on simultaneously. There are around ten researchers and five volunteers (including me) who carry out the studies. Throughout this blog, I will explain a couple of the different research studies that are currently underway which I am working on.

The first study I will touch on is called Time and Motion. Time and Motion is a fairly common research study in the medical field. This study seeks to discover how long it takes clinicians to complete a task as well as what clinicians do during their shifts. Data from Time and Motion studies can potentially help discover why Clinicians feel burnout while working. Currently, I gather data for this study through my volunteer work. There are two parts to this study: observing a physician for two hours during their shift and reporting data into a digital file. 

Another study that I have recently taken part in is a lower respiratory infection study. This study seeks to compile data to advance knowledge of lower respiratory infections. Similarly to the Time and Motion study, there are multiple parts. The first part consists of finding a patient with a non-allergy-based lower respiratory infection and obtaining consent. This step ensures the patients’ understanding of the research study. Next, the data must be compiled in a digital file. This digital file must include all relevant patient notes, a respiratory interim note, and multiple other files. These files are key to reporting back findings to the outside sponsor of the research study.

Finally, a third study I assist with relates to broken hips. Many falls for elderly patients consistently lead to broken hips. When we are younger, a femur or another bone is more likely to break instead. The Maimonides Team is studying this data. This third study requires obtaining consent for patient participation in the survey (like usual) and gathering data about the broken hip.

Ultimately, I have described a small sample of the ongoing research studies at Maimonides Hospital. I did this to display the breadth of the research department and how it spans in multiple directions. Each of these studies has various levels for patient participation which complicates how we can make research more effective.