New researchers emerge
August 2021
The Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) is inviting novice researchers to start their journey with a specialised new grant scheme.
EMF has launched the Emerge grant for clinicians ready to develop new research skills. Emerge grants provide up to $10,000 for projects that can be achieved within twelve months.
“Continually improving patient care, and the healthcare system more broadly, relies on frontline clinicians with research skills to seek solutions for ongoing challenges. We are investing in the future generation of emergency medicine researchers,” said EMF General Manager, Beth Chapman.
To support emergency clinicians that are new to research, EMF has significantly streamlined the application process and introduced mentorship as a key component of the scheme.
Emerge grant applicants will be asked to nominate a mentor to provide research training, act as a guide during the project, and ensure timelines are met with a high research standard throughout.
Learn from other researchers
Emergency Physician and EMF-funded researcher Dr Nemat Alsaba encourages all emergency clinicians to consider research and for novice researchers to make the most of mentoring.
“Find a mentor who is willing to guide and support you and has the capacity to do so. Seek constant feedback from your mentor on every single step in the research journey,” said Nemat.
“I believe it is imperative for emergency department clinicians to get involved in research – whether designing research protocol, writing, testing or participating – there is a researcher in all of us.”
Senior Staff Emergency Medicine Specialist and EMF grant recipient, Dr Michelle Davison acknowledges that research can seem daunting for those starting out.
“Despite appearances, research is very much a team sport and to do this well you need to rely upon those more experienced researchers to help you navigate what seems to be incomprehensible and insurmountable hurdles along the way,” said Michelle.
“My passion comes from a desire to find evidence-based answers to allow us to improve patient care outcomes and scale up these benefits by disseminating to our peers nationally and internationally.”
With a longstanding career as an emergency nurse, educator, manager and successful researcher, Associate Professor Bernice Redley has been a reviewer for EMF and is now a member of the Research Committee.
Bernice is passionate about creating opportunities to support new and emerging researchers to develop their research skills and capability, and particularly for nurses to become part of the solution.
“I would like to see increasing numbers of nurses as both leaders of research, and as members of multidisciplinary research teams,” said Bernice.
“Nurses bring a unique human and holistic perspective that can be overlooked in research focusing on organs or disease processes rather than people and the complex issues that make them human.”
EMF awarded the first Emerge grants in November 2021 and applications for Round 37 and Round 38 are open in 2022. More information here.
Dr Nemat’s top tips for novice researchersFind a mentor who is willing to guide and support you and has the capacity to do so. Seek constant feedback from your mentor on every single step in the research journey. Start small but dream big. Start a small research project as this will help you to navigate the research process and give you an opportunity to learn and practice writing up protocols, and dealing with ethics approvals. Do research that matters to you. Find a project that excites you. This will help you to stay enthusiastic and prevent burnout in the process. There is a researcher in all of us. Find your inner researcher and nurture it. |
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