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CIHR's IPPH-IHSPR Summer Institute

Summer Institute 2010 - Call for Applications

CIHR IHSPR-IPPH Summer Institute

"Primary Healthcare Research: Revisiting the Foundations of Primary Healthcare Research"

We are pleased to announce the 9th annual Summer Institute to be hosted by the CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) and the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH). This year's Summer Institute will focus on primary healthcare research and will be chaired by Dr. Peter Norton, Professor Emeritus, Department of Family Medicine, University of Calgary.

A strong primary healthcare system is the foundation of any high-performing, sustainable, and accessible healthcare system and is associated with advantages such as better health outcomes, lower cost of care, and reduced inequities in health and health services across populations. Despite these recognized benefits, Canada continues to grapple with providing access to coordinated universal coverage, person-centered care systems, healthy public policies, leadership and effective governance.

Health decision makers and researchers in Canada are increasingly recognizing the need for primary healthcare transformation and wide-scale innovation, which must be supported by timely, relevant, and high-quality primary health-care research.

To this end, The 2010 Summer Institute will focus on the next frontiers in primary healthcare research, including pressing questions, methodological gaps, and issues in knowledge translation. Topics covered may include primary healthcare policy, quality and safety in primary healthcare delivery, the interface between primary healthcare and public health in Canada, ethical issues in the conduct of primary healthcare research, comparative and population-based research, knowledge translation for practice and policy, and other emerging issues in primary healthcare research.

The objectives of the Summer Institute will be to:

  1. Explore key concepts and current issues in primary healthcare research;
  2. Discuss key methodologies and methodological gaps in primary healthcare research;
  3. Discuss the implications of primary healthcare research and knowledge translation on health policy and practice; and,
  4. Provide a multi-disciplinary, high-quality learning environment that offers trainees the opportunity to interact with students from a diverse range of backgrounds and leaders in primary healthcare research.

Graduate students with a strong interest in conducting primary healthcare research are encouraged to apply. In keeping with the Summer Institute's aim of being a multi-disciplinary training opportunity, applicants from a wide variety of research disciplines (e.g. social scientists, clinician scientists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, etc) and from a diverse range of educational and practice backgrounds (e.g. life sciences, economics, pharmacy, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, etc.) are welcome to apply.

In addition to Dr. Norton, this year's faculty will include esteemed researchers Dr. Earl Dunn (University of Toronto), Dr. Moira Stewart (University of Western Ontario), Dr. Fred Tudiver (East Tennessee State University), and others leaders in primary healthcare research.

What is the Summer Institute?

The Summer Institute is an intensive multi-day training opportunity that brings together top graduate students, post-doctoral or post-health professional (e.g. RN, MD, PT) fellows, researchers, and decision makers from across Canada for a unique learning experience complementary to formal academic training. The event is co-hosted on an annual basis by IHSPR and IPPH and focuses on a different topic each year.

Information about the 2009 Summer Institute on Space, Place and Health in available online. Please see below for information on past Summer Institutes.

Application Guidelines and Processes

We invite applications from students in graduate training and from post-doctoral or post-health professional fellows with an interest in primary healthcare research in the health services and policy (HSP) and population and public health (PPH) research communities. Applications from any relevant discipline will be considered. A limited number (30) of student spaces are available for this event that will bring together researchers, students, practitioners and decision makers from across Canada and abroad. An application review committee will select students based upon research interests, relevant professional and voluntary experience, range of disciplinary backgrounds, academic qualifications and resumes.

Eligibility:

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. Applicants must currently be enrolled in a doctoral program (e.g. PhD, Pharm D, DrPH) or hold a postdoctoral or post-health professional (e.g. RN, MD, PT) fellowship at a Canadian university. Preference will be given to doctoral students and postdoctoral or post-health professional fellows. However, Masters' students may be considered if they are in the final stages of their Masters degree (that is, they have completed their research project and analyses and are in the final writing stages of the thesis).
  2. Preference will be given to students who are:
    1. Participants in a CHSRF/CIHR (CADRE), or other CIHR training program, or who are affiliated and/or involved in CIHR-IPPH funded centres for research development.
    2. Funded by a national or provincial research award (e.g., from CIHR, SSHRC, CHSRF, MSFHR, AHFMR, FRSQ, NSHRF, MHRC etc.).
    Students who do not fall into either of these categories may still apply and will be considered based on space availability and the criteria above.
  3. Applicants must be Canadian citizens or have landed immigrant status.
  4. Applicants must have research interests and a thesis topic (where relevant) in the designated theme of this year's Summer Institute. Applicants from any relevant discipline will be considered.
  5. Applicants must be committed to attending the entire Summer Institute.
  6. Applicants must not have attended any of the eight previous Summer Institutes funded by IHSPR or IPPH.

Travel Expenses:

The Summer Institute will cover the following costs:

  • Lowest price economy air ticket from trainee's home to Pearson International Airport, Toronto, ON (domestic flights only).
  • Accommodation, which will be arranged by the organizers, for three nights (June 20, 21, and 22, 2010) at Nottawasaga Inn Convention Centre and Resort.
  • All meals during the Summer Institute
  • Return bus/taxi fares from the Pearson International Airport to Nottawasaga Inn (please note that some trainees may have to make their own bookings with various services available at Pearson International Airport. Details on this will be provided later to successful applicants)

The participant is responsible for any incidental transportation or expenses beyond that which is outlined above.

Application:

Please fill in the application form online on CIHR's website. This must be completed on or before March 31, 2010. As well, a copy of your most recent transcript must be faxed to Kim Gaudreau on or before March 31, 2010. Kim's fax number is 613-954-1800. If you encounter any problems with the fax transmission, you can also reach her by phone (613-957-6128) or by email.

The application includes the following information:

  • Contact information
  • Academic background, as well as other information such as health-related employment experience
  • Current academic status (including current transcript)
  • General research/thesis interests - this includes both the topic area and the methodology
  • Training expectations and contributions
  • Voluntary and practice experience relevant to the Institutes focus
  • Name and contact information of your supervisor

Selection Procedure:

An application review committee will select 30 students, based upon eligibility criteria, including research interests, range of disciplinary backgrounds, academic qualifications and résumés, complete application information, and geographical distribution. Applicants will be contacted as to whether or not they are accepted on or before May 15th, 2010.

General Inquiries:

For more information regarding the 2010 Summer Institute, please contact Jennifer Critchley by phone 416-978-5174 or email.

Overall Purpose

The Summer Institute is one of many strategic capacity-building activities planned by IPPH and IHSPR to foster the creation and maintenance of complex interdisciplinary research teams and their community/policy-maker/practitioner partners. Such collaborations are increasingly recognized as critical to ensuring high-quality population & public health (PPH) and health services & policy (HSP) research.

The Summer Institute is intended as an annual event (subject always to the availability of funding and local organizers and hosts) that will contribute to the evolution of a network of PPH and HSP researchers and research users across the country.

Specific Objectives

  • To provide an complementary training environment that is respectful of the perspectives, tools, and approaches of all disciplines, to which students at different stages of training can be exposed, than would normally be available to them in their own training environment;
  • to provide an opportunity to students to be exposed to a wider range of established researchers and perspectives in the fields of PPH and HSP form across the country;
  • to encourage the development of new interdisciplinary partnerships, and research projects, in PPH and HSP; and to create a Canadian PPH and HSP research network of future young investigators, who might otherwise not have a chance to interact with colleagues from other training programs and other disciplines across the country;
  • to learn how interdisciplinary and partnered research is planned, applied for, and carried out, including the challenges faced and effective approaches used to involve a variety of stakeholders and researchers from different disciplines;
  • to provide an opportunity for students to interact with decision-makers with interests in PPH, and HSP research;
  • to increase the participants' understanding of different theoretical and methodological approaches to interdisciplinary and applied health research;
  • to expose students to a variety of examples of qualitative and/or quantitative research approaches to complex PPH and HSP problems;
  • to acquire experience with the design of research programs to address specific PPH and/or HSP research topics of interest to participants, and with the writing of research protocols as a member of an interdisciplinary team.

Past Summer Institutes

Date Modified: 2010-03-08

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