NEWS

New Distance Learning Opportunities in Clinical Research
Faculty, residents and fellows who are beginning clinical research can benefit from a collaboration between Baystate, Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler Clinical Research Graduate Program that makes the content of Introduction to Clinical Care Research (graduate course CRES 525) available online on a no-tuition, no-credit basis.

CRES 525 is taught by faculty of the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies and provides a concise, but intensive, introduction to basic concepts of clinical research and protocol development. Topics include:

• epistemology of clinical research
• developing a research question
• structure of a research protocol
• classic study designs
• database management
• common mistakes and fatal flaws
• decision analysis
• and methods of health services research.

The 32 course sessions (approximately 1 hour each) are indexed and archived on TUSM's TUSK site. A complete course outline and information about additional online education courses is available on the Academic Affairs intranet.

A TUSK account is needed to access this course. All Baystate faculty, residents, fellows, and education and research staff are eligible for a TUSK account. If you need an account, contact Angela Cardona in the Division of Academic Affairs.

Baystate Adopts AAMC Compact Committing to Core Tenets of Graduate Medical Education
In January 2006 the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and numerous professional organizations cooperatively published the Compact Between Resident Physicians and Their Teachers, which declares the fundamental principles of graduate medical education and the major commitments of both residents and faculty to the educational process, to each other, and to the patients they serve. The Compact articulates the three core tenets of graduate medical education:

• Residents are, first and foremost, learners
• Residents must learn in clinical settings that embody the highest standards of medical practice and patient safety
• Residents' wellbeing must be a high priority.

Earlier this year, the Baystate Medical Center Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) formally adopted the principles as outlined in the Compact. The Compact and additional information are available at the AAMC website.