Student Research Handbook

Welcome to the Quillen College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics! We are excited to have you work with us and hope that you will benefit from this experience. This manual will give you a brief overview of our current research projects, required trainings to participate in departmental research, and our expectations for research assistants.

As a research assistant for the Department of Pediatrics, you will have the opportunity to:

• Learn to critically think through the research process
• Receive mentoring to prepare you for graduate school
• Develop abstracts and present research at conferences
• Be part of a positive change for our community

We are here to support you on your journey of engaging in research, and we hope that you will take advantage of all the opportunities our department has to offer.

CITI Institutional Review Board (IRB) Humans Subjects Research Training

The IRB Human Subjects Research course teaches the ethical principles, professional standards, good clinical practice, policies and procedures, federal regulations, and other applicable laws for human subjects research. The training must be completed prior to conducting human subject research. Begin by creating an account at CITI.

Tips for setting up your account

• Use your school email when creating your account
• Select: Group 1. Biomedical research Investigators and Key Personnel (non-VA) or Medical Student Only depending on your status.
• CITI estimates the average learner spends about 4.5 hours on the basic course

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
Our department will notify the HIPAA Compliance Office at ETSU that you need to complete HIPAA training. You will receive an email with instructions to complete the online training. The training consists of two parts and takes about an hour to complete.

Medical Library Databases
The Medical Library (VA Building 4) has multiple databases to search for journal articles. The staff is more than happy to train you. Training lasts about 1 – 1.5 hours.

OSHA Training (if needed)
If you are conducting research in the ETSU Health Clinic, you will be required to complete OSHA training. 

ETSU Health Clinic EHR Training (if needed)
Electronic Health Records training is required for any researcher that will be accessing ETSU Health patient charts. A background check will be required.

OneAegis (if needed)
If you will be assisting with submitting a protocol to the IRB, you will need OneAegis training conducted by the ETSU Institution Review Board. To set up training, complete the form on the IRB Forms webpage.

SPSS for Beginners (if needed)
Missouri State University has recorded some very helpful training videosfor those new to data analysis on SPSS.

REDCap (if needed)
REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. ETSU also has a HIPAA compliant REDCap for storing PHI. To request access to REDCap, complete the REDCap Account Request Form. Training videos are available on the REDCap website.

Research Curriculum (if needed)
The Division of Academic Pediatrics has developed a 6 session series on the basics of social/behavioral research.

We want a friendly, engaging environment in our department that encourages learning. To make sure that happens, we want to make sure everyone understands the department’s policies.

Work Schedule
Once your work schedule has been set, you are expected to work during those hours. If you are unable to work during your scheduled hours or you will be late, you must email your supervisor immediately. If you are sick, we want you to stay home and rest; however, you are still required to notify us that you will not be at work.

Sometimes you will be scheduled to work during lunch hours. Please plan accordingly. If you work six hours or more a day, by law you must take a 30 minute lunch break. Your lunch break is not paid. For questions, temporary employees can contact ETSU Payroll at 439-5320 and federal work study students can contact ETSU Financial Aid at 439-5855.

Our office is closed for official holidays. Additionally, we follow ETSU’s inclement weather policy. If the University is closed for inclement weather, the department will be closed as well. If the University remains open, you will be expected to make every reasonable effort to maintain your regular work schedules, but are advised to avoid undue risks in traveling. If you decide you need to come in late or not at all due to weather, email your supervisor immediately.

Email Protocol
Email is typically the fastest way to get in touch with someone. It also provides an electronic paper trail, which can be helpful later on. We ask that when emailing anyone in connection to your work through Department of Pediatrics, you CC your supervisor on the emails. This keeps us in the loop. Remember, it is always best to keep your boss informed.

When you receive emails from someone on the research team, we expect that you will respond within 48 hours. You can expect the same courtesy from us.

Dress Code
The Department of Pediatrics is a professional office setting. We are fine with casual attire; however, we do not want you to look like you just rolled out of bed. Sometimes you will be required to dress more professionally like when we are working in area schools or with community members. We will notify you about appropriate dress for our different settings.

Timesheets
Part time temporary employees are responsible for entering their time entries directly into TRS. You may also login via the Employee tab in Goldlink. You are responsible for maintaining, updating, and submitting your timesheet. They are due on the 1st and 16th of each month to your supervisor. FWS and APS students will need to work with Katie Duvall to log their hours in the JobX TimesheetX system.

Requesting Letters of Recommendation
We are excited to provide a letter of recommendation for you; however, we do have guidelines for requesting letters. Requests must come 30 days before the due date to provide ample time to write the letter. When requesting a letter, please also submit your resume/CV and any pertinent information about the school/scholarship/job/etc. to which you are applying. Technology allows applicants to send auto-generated emails requesting recommendation letters or references. You must first ask to list someone before the auto-generated request is sent.

We want you to get the most out of this research experience as possible. Sometimes that will mean you are given tasks that seem hard or are out of your academic comfort zone. We want to help you grow your research chops to make you as competitive as possible for graduate school. Sometimes you will also receive tasks that are not exciting, but are necessary in building the research project.

Communication and Managing Conflict
There will be times when conflicts arise between staff members. When appropriate and if it is safe to do so, we ask that you first address the issue or concern with the individual to allow them the opportunity to explain or clarify the issue or concern. If the issue is not resolved, the next step would be to address the issue or concern with your immediate supervisor. If you are still unable to resolve the issue or concern you will continue up the chain of command. There are situations where it may not be advisable to first address the issue or concern directly with the individual, for instance: sexual harassment or inappropriate requests. These need to be brought to the attention of your supervisor immediately.

Conferences, Grants, & Authorship
An essential part of conducting research is writing grants and presenting oral and written results. As part of your work within the department, we expect you to research and write grants as well as submit abstracts and papers to conferences. Learning to present your findings is vital to the research process; therefore, you are expected to submit a project to the Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium or the Appalachian Student Research Forum. Both your faculty supervisor and Katie Duvall will mentor you through this process. We will also provide opportunities for you to practice before a conference presentation.

Several funding opportunities are available if your abstract or paper is selected for a non-ETSU conference; however, you must talk with your faculty supervisor and Katie Duvall prior to submitting the abstract or paper to the conference.

Authorship opportunities are also available if you make a significant contribution to the paper through data analysis and interpretation, writing, etc. A literature search is not considered a significant contribution.

Educational Opportunities
Research assistants are encouraged to attend Grand Rounds and Journal Club. This is a networking opportunity as well as an opportunity to see other’s research. These are Wednesday conferences at lunchtime. There may be other training opportunities that we ask you to attend as your schedule allows.