Research Opportunities and Expectations
What to expect
Research opportunities are plentiful with a large and growing clinical research database on over 2000+ patients who have undergone bariatric surgery and presented for pre-surgical psychological evaluation. This pre-surgery psychological data is linked with data on weight and medical comorbidities over time post-surgery, and is also linked for a subset of patients with post-surgery psychological outcomes between 1.5-3 years post-surgery. Most fellows will choose to complete research projects (with resulting presentations at national conferences and publications) across this year utilizing this existing research database.
Research
Fellows are expected to be involved in an active program of research throughout the course of their training. At minimum, the fellow is expected to submit at least one research abstract for a national conference poster and/or presentation and submit a manuscript for publication prior to completing their fellowship program. In order to meet this timeline, it is recommended that the project is identified/selected early in the fellowship year.
Additional opportunities to be involved in active pilot grants focused on development of a positive psychology intervention for post-bariatric couples, and a longitudinal mixed methods study on psychological and behavioral effects of receiving genetic test results for obesity in the weight management clinic setting, are available.
Grants & Funding
The Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation offers a great deal of support for research, including access to the University of Utah Study Design and Biostatistics Center, research support staff for initiation of new projects, and the University of Utah Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Research Committee for additional support, feedback, and pilot grant funding. The fellow will be provided with an educational/research stipend of $2,000 for the year to support attendance and presentation at conferences, purchasing of books and equipment needed.
