Currently, there are only a handful of physicians in the United States who have been formally trained in health services research techniques and methodologies. At the UCLA/VA Center for Outcomes Research and Education, we believe that patient-oriented investigators should be trained, in a standardized manner, in content areas including epidemiology, clinical study design, survey design, health economics, biostatistics, systematic review, meta-analysis, and quality of care measurement. Moreover, these junior investigators should be trained and mentored by academic clinical physicians who have the expertise and advanced training in patient-oriented research methods. With this training, junior investigators graduating from the program will be better prepared to successfully compete for federal research funding and more likely to remain within academic medicine.

The UCLA/VA Center for Outcomes Research and Education, in collaboration with the Division of General Internal Medicine / Health Services Research, has established a two-year Fellowship Training Program in Digestive Diseases Health Services Research that provides gastroenterologists and hepatologists with a standardized model for advanced training in health services research methodologies and techniques. This fellowship supports one trainee per year during this two-year fellowship.

There are several quantifiable goals of this Fellowship Training Program:

1. Completion of formal coursework in the UCLA School of Public Health that leads to the completion of a Master's of Science Degree in Health Services (MSHS), Epidemiology (MS Epi), Public Health (MPH), or Biostatistics (MS Biost).

2. Completion of a detailed and comprehensive GI Health Services Research seminar series in conjuncture with the UCLA Robert Wood Johnson Fellowship Program and the Sepulveda VA HSR&D Center of Excellence, which provides additional skills in grant writing, medical ethics, health care policy, and outcomes research methods.

3. Design, execution, and first-author publication of a clinical research project under the guidance of a team of mentors, including a gastroenterologist / hepatologist (GI content and HSR methodology expert), a health services researcher (methodology expert), and a social scientist.

4. Completion of a grant proposal for a national GI / Hepatology society-funded or federally-funded Career Development Award (e.g., American College of Gastroenterology Clinical Research Career Development Award, American Gastroenterological Association Career Development Award, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Career Development Award, Glaxo Institute for Digestive Health Career Award, NIH K23, or VA HSR&D Research Career Development Award).