SUMMER TRAINING AND RESEARCH IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE (STAR-EM)

The UHN STAR-EM (Summer Training and Research in Emergency Medicine) Program is a summer training program for University of Toronto undergraduate medical students that advances the goal of cultivating and supporting research in emergency medicine through education, specialized training, and sustainable presence of collaborating researchers in the ED.

A cohort of four to five undergraduate medical students who have completed Year 1 or 2 at the University of Toronto will be eligible to be enrolled in a 10-week focused research program within the UHN Emergency Departments. Their time will be divided between undertaking work on their own summer research project under the mentorship of a UHN EM faculty member (STAR-EM research faculty), attending in the ED to support ongoing emergency medicine projects, shadowing ED physicians (STAR-EM teaching faculty), and attending the weekly STAR-EM program curriculum (components of the program may be conducted virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic).

This program serves to nurture and cultivate future aspiring EM researchers and clinicians who are currently enrolled at the University of Toronto MD program.

Program start date: June 2, 2025.

Supervisor application: Now closed

Student Application: NOW CLOSED

Please e-mail Konika at konika.nirmalanathan@uhn.ca for more details.

ACCEPTED PROJECTS FOR 2025

Evaluating the University Health Network Emergency Department Community Advisory Council
PI: Dr. Tahara Bhate
Summary: In an effort to center the lived experiences of the community in their Emergency Departments (EDs), a
Community Advisory Council (CAC) for the UHN ED has been established. The CAC meets with ED leadership and healthcare providers every 1-2 months to consult on decisions central to improving patient care across all UHN EDs. We are looking to evaluate the UHN ED CAC to determine its value and utility, for the department as a whole, staff, and members of the CAC itself. The student will focus specifically on conducting the thematic analysis of the completed interviews with support from our research team.

Evaluating the Acute Care Echocardiography (ACE) Training Program
PI: Dr. Julia Wytsma
Summary: The Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration in Emergency Medicine (TAAAC-EM) has developed an Acute Care Echocardiography (ACE) training program to train emergency and critical care medicine residents at Addis Ababa University (AAU) on focused transthoracic echocardiography. During this project, the student will look into the perceived effect and impact on knowledge of residents participating in this pilot ACE workshop. As a pre and post cohort study, this will be done by analyzing pre-reading surveys, as well as pre- and post-workshop evaluations to inform future iterations of the workshop.

Formative evaluation of a Stabilization and Connection Centre (SCC) for stable patients using drugs and alcohol
PI: Dr. Kate Hayman
Summary: The dual crises of ED overcrowding and highly prevalent alcohol and substance use disorders require
novel models of care provision. This is a retrospective, formative evaluation of Stabilization and Connection Centre (SCC) operations and outcomes from Dec 2022 to Dec 2024. Comparative data for intoxicated patients attending UHN Emergency Departments during the same period will be extracted from EPIC. Comparisons between the SCC visits and ED visits will be made for demographics, substances used, EMS offload time, time spent on site, and disposition.

Evaluating impact and efficacy of iterative changes in FAST-HIV testing in the Emergency Department
PI: Dr. Jennifer Hulme
Summary: The student will conduct a quantitative evaluation of the FAST-HIV testing program's performance at UHN, focusing on the impact of three iterative changes implemented over the past 12 months. They will analyze de-identified patient chart data from three distinct phases

CALL FOR STAR-EM FACULTY SUPERVISORS

Interested staff should submit a cv to konika.nirmalanathan@uhn.ca and complete the application form (https://forms.gle/Z7WGNTjPaFfaAfp89) including a brief (<300 word) proposal and project timeline by January 24, 2025. The proposal should outline the focused question to be addressed through the project this summer and the role of the medical student. The project should be largely achievable within the ten weeks of the STAR-EM curriculum. In compliance with current COVID-19 restrictions for students, the project should not require direct patient contact or attendance in the ED. Please note the deadline for CREMS submission is February 10th, 2024.

For more details, please see the following document:

Call for STAR-EM Supervisors

TOP EDUCATION INNOVATION ABSTRACT AWARD

"STAR-EM: An innovative summer research program for medical students in an urban Canadian academic emergency department" was recognized as the co-winner for the 2020 Canadian Association of Emergency Physician (CAEP)'s Top Education Innovation Abstract Award

Authors: Friedman, S., Porplycia, D., Lexchin, J., Hayman, K., Masood, S., O'Connor, E., Xie, E., Bryan, J., Smith-Gorvie, T., Lim, D., Leung, J., Sheikh, H. (2020).

Read the abstract here: https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2020.67
Read the full manuscript describing the curriculum development and program evaluation here: https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2020.366

PROGRAM CURRICULUM

The curriculum will typically include sessions on research methods (including ethics, protocol design, data analysis, writing for publication) group review of research work in progress, and clinical emergency medicine (including ultrasound, simulation, and sports medicine).