There are multiple opportunities for educators to participate in research at AOMA.  Here is a brief introduction to the various ways that you can be involved in research at AOMA:

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1. Complete your own original research.

Do you have a project you've been thinking about for a while?  There are financial perks for faculty members who publish!  For the most current stipend provided for publishing research at AOMA, check out the current Employee and Faculty Manual.  But where do you start?

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• Write up your idea and initial thoughts.  

• Identify the type of research it is and whether it involves human research participants.

• Make it formal.  Visit the IRB submission platform to download the forms you will need.

• Contact the chair of the Scientific Review Committee (SRC), Dr. Beth Howlett at BHowlett@aoma.edu

• Finesse your protocol and supporting documents and get the seal of approval from SRC.

• Submit your project to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for review.  For more information about the IRB and to submit to IRB, visit our Research page.

• Wait.  The IRB committee will review your project and follow up from there.

• Once you have approval, start!

• Write up your results and publish!

 

You may wish to collaborate with a colleague.  Sometimes, this can lead to confusion in authorship.  What steps should you take if you want to collaborate?

1. Notify the IRB.  You want to let the IRB know about anyone working with you on your project and let them know what their access to the data will be.

2. Review.  Review the content from the official reference text for research at AOMA.

3. Talk.  Talk with your colleagues and make sure you're on the same page.

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2. Serve as a Research Advisor for a Doctoral Student

You might have a large project in mind that is amenable to a doctoral student completing a supplemental project under your supervision.  Perhaps, you always wanted to foster research.  Or, maybe, a doctoral student reached out to you to ask you to be a research advisor (RA).  What's involved?

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• Just like publishing original research:

  • There are financial perks to serving as an RA.  For the most current stipend provided for publishing research at AOMA, check out the current Employee and Faculty Manual.

  • You will want to be clear on authorship guidelines, not just for yourself but to ensure your advisees are clear as well.

• Time Commitment

Advisors should expect to spend a few hours each month working with their advisees, which are compensated.

• Key areas you will want to make sure you are discussing with your advisee:

  • Set expectations​ early

  • Set a plan for communication

  • Discuss value and feasibility of the proposed capstone

  • Discuss how to do a proper literature review and identify MeSH terms

  • Discuss methods

  • Discuss plans for data analysis

• If you are interested in serving as an RA and/or would like more information,
  contact your Sr. Director of Research, Dr. Violet Song at VSong@aoma.edu​

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3. Publish Clinical Case Reports

While case reports are original research, there is an existing project in place with both the SRC and the IRB to foster meaningful, publishable research.

1. Gain specific consent from your patient.  While intake paperwork does include consent to participate in research.  However, best practice still calls for getting additional consent for your specific write up.

2. Use CARE Guidelines.  The prominent journals for Chinese medicine all utilize CARE Guidelines as the gold standard.  To best prepare your case report for publication, you will want to utilize CARE Guidelines.