Residents are required to complete a scholarly project during their training. This scholarly project may consist of an original paper, a quality improvement project, or a scholarly case report. Residents present their findings to their peers during the program’s Resident Research Fair yearly. Winners from the fair will present their research during a Grand Rounds presentation. Their project is then added to their portfolios so it can be assessed as part of their semi-annual review.
Many residents opt to become involved in additional research and scholarly projects here at Mather as well as through the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health. Through this local and expansive research network, our residents have published in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine and have presented their work at medical subspecialty conferences across the country and internationally.
Residents are afforded protected time during their ambulatory blocks to pursue their research interests. Our flexible block scheduling allows for additional time to be set aside for electives when residents can devote time exclusively to their scholarly activities. Faculty also have protected time to participate in and oversee research.
The dramatic success in the area of scholarly activity that Mather has enjoyed through its early years owes not only to our philosophy of creating an environment of inquiry, but also to the work of our dedicated on-sight research and scholarly activity mentors, Dr. Alan Kaell and Dr. Greg Haggerty.
Alan Kaell, MD, serves as the Program’s Director of Resident Scholarly Activity and Faculty Development. Board certified in internal medicine, rheumatology and geriatrics, Dr. Kaell has been an active investigator since 1983, focusing on rheumatology and immunology. He has conducted more than 20 Phase II, III and IV clinical trials for anti-rheumatic therapies and has been the recipient of NIH and Fetzer research grants. Dr. Kaell has taught medical students, residents and fellows for the past 30 years and is currently a participant in the Academy of Rheumatology Medical Educators, whose mission is to develop, implement and assess novel teaching techniques by incorporating Patient Reported Outcomes and evaluating patient and physician behavioral changes. Dr. Kaell also maintains clinical privileges at 4 major New York hospitals and has been an active reviewer and editor of various major medical journals for more than 30 years.
Greg Haggerty, Ph.D. serves as Medical Research Educator at Mather Hospital. Dr. Haggerty received his B.A. in psychology from St. John’s University and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Adelphi University. He completed his APA-Accredited clinical psychology internship at Zucker Hillside Hospital/Northwell Health (formally North Shore-LIJ Health System) and received post-doctoral research training at Zucker Hillside Hospital’s Division of Psychiatric Research. Dr. Haggerty has served as the Director of Research for Nassau University Medical Center’s Psychiatry department and was chair of the hospital’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). He has worked as chief psychologist for NUMC’s adolescent inpatient unit and as supervising psychologist in NUMC’s adult outpatient clinic where he supervised child and adolescent psychiatry fellows, psychiatry residents, psychology externs and psychology interns (as part of an APA-accredited psychology internship). He maintains an active research program focusing on personality assessment, training, psychopathology classification, and treatment outcome. Dr. Haggerty has received funding for his research from the NIMH and American Psychoanalytic Association and has active research collaborations with Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Michigan, St. John’s University, Adelphi University and Austin Riggs Hospital.
Dr. Kaell and Dr. Haggerty teach residents a series on Research Methodology, with topics that include:
- Choosing manageable projects that can be completed and published in a timely manner
- Understanding the statistical tools needed in clinical study design, data analysis and publication
- Navigating the process of study design, IRB approval needs, funding sources, protocol revisions and how to handle them
- Understanding placebo and nocebo effects
- Differentiating between effectiveness and efficacy outcomes
- Selecting appropriate outcome measures – surrogate vs. other
- HIPAA and Informed Consent
Dr. Kaell and Dr. Haggerty guide residents with topic development, planning, data gathering, analysis, and drafting. They match residents with appropriate research mentors and facilitate research relationships and collaboration between residents and faculty.