Research

Research for Everyone

Our overall goal for your Med-Peds residency training is to support you in both identifying and achieving your own career goals. While this focuses on clinical care, we also are committed to supporting residents in learning skills related to scientific discovery. During residency, each resident will be mentored to complete a scholarly activity ranging from a case report to an in-depth primary investigation. 

A Career Focused on Research

For some residents, research is a passion and an important part of your future career.  Vanderbilt has a wide range of options to support your developing research career, including opportunities for internal grant funding, research support services with biostatisticians, and help with preparing manuscripts. You can find a sampling of some of those services here: https://edgeforscholars.vumc.org/. 

Mentoring

Importantly, we have senior Med-Peds faculty who are experts in primary-care based research who can mentor you in your early career research activities. Three of our Med-Peds faculty—Dr. Russell Rothman, Dr. Christianne Roumie, and Dr. Bill Heerman—are all physician-scientists with extensive NIH funding. They are each international experts in their own fields and are eager to support the next generation of Med-Peds physician scientists.

Research Fellowships

Research fellowship programs are designed to give you additional quantitative skills, research training, and time to pursue your academic interests after Med-Peds residency. There are numerous sub-specialty fellowship programs, which many of our residents choose to pursue. For residents interested in a career in academic Med-Peds, Vanderbilt is also home to fellowship programs in Academic General Pediatrics and General Internal Medicine, both of which allow a specific focus on primary-care based research and discovery. Many of our current faculty have completed these fellowships, and residents who complete these fellowships often go on to pursue careers as leaders in academic medicine and/or as physician scientists.        

Academic General Pediatrics: https://pediatrics.vumc.org/general-pediatrics-fellowship

VA Quality Scholars: https://www.vaqs.org/sites/nashville/

Scientific discovery is part of what makes Vanderbilt a great medical center. It will be our pleasure to help you explore how your contribution with your medical career could include some of these pursuits.