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(days to weeks) • Population or geographically based systems (emergency medical services) For more experienced investigators, we have identified key elements in research design that are fundamental to successful grant applications (9). In weekly interdisciplinary research conferences, we emphasize the incorporation of these elements into manuscripts and grant applications. Ideally, our goal is to present a series of hypothesis-driven, mechanistically based, logically sequential, highly focused studies with direct application to clinical medicine performed by a superior emergency medicine clinician investigator. While this lofty goal has not been completely achievable, the following components represent significant intermediate goals. Hypothesis-driven. The study is supported by a well-articulated, imaginative, and testable hypothesis. It is not a broad-based inquiry hoping to find something interesting (sometimes referred to as a fishing expedition) or a project solely focused on finding that drug or procedure X is helpful (sometimes referred to as “product testing”). Mechanistically based. The project should not only describe an interesting phenomenon but also seek to explain how it works (the “mechanism of action”). Once a mechanism of action is discovered, it can lead to further projects on how the phenomenon can be therapeutically manipulated or applied to other problems of biological or clinical interest. 10 CHAPTER 2 — HOW TO PICK AN EMERGENCY MEDICINE RESEARCH TOPIC Logically sequential. Truly elegant studies are ones that identify and explain the entire chain of events associated with the phenomenon. In basic science studies, a project might seek to explain a phenomenon, such as ischemic preconditioning, from the molecular, cellular, and physiological perspectives. Clinical studies might seek to explain the pathophysiological basis of a disease such as asthma, the mechanism of action of a particular intervention on the disease state, and the effect of this intervention on the lives of patients with the disease. Highly focused. Each study in a project should be delineated precisely into a series of experiments that can be packaged and published as discrete manuscripts. We emphasize that you never propose a study that will take longer than approximately 6 months to complete. We are continuously amazed by the complexities that evolve from even the most focused projects. Superior clinician/investigators. Emergency medicine clinicians who are well-trained investigators are in a unique position to gain insight into complex clinical entities by directly translating potential mechanisms of disease relevant to that entity, and vice versa. Training can be accomplished by a combination of working directly with an experienced research mentor and formal course work. CONCLUSIONS A key challenge to a successful research project is the identification of an interesting research topic and the design of a research approach that will be able to effectively answer the question of interest. There are a wide range of research topics within emergency medicine, and most focus on clinical conditions that are time-dependent, carry high morbidity or mortality, involve diagnostic uncertainty, and affect traditionally underserved populations. Once a research area of interest has been identified, it is important to evolve the topic into a successful research project. For novice and junior investigators, it will be important to identify a research mentor to help in research topic selection. More experienced investigators should pursue topics that allow for a series of hypothesis-driven, mechanistically based sequential studies. REFERENCES 1. Josiah Macy Jr Foundation. The role of emergency medicine in the future of American medical care. Ann Emerg Med. 1995;25:230-233. 2. Aghababian RV, Barsan WG, Bickell WH, et al: Research directions in emergency medicine. Ann Emerg Med. 1996;27:339-342. 3. Cairns CB, Garrison HG, Hedges JR, et al: Development of new methods to assess the outcomes of emergency care. Ann Emerg Med. 1998;5:157-161. 4. Carden DL, Dronen S, Gehrig G, Zalenski R: Funding strategies for emergency medicine research. Ann Emerg Med. 1998;5(2):168-176. 5. Institute of Medicine, Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System. Hospital Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2006. 6. Kaji AH, Lewis RL, Beavers-May T, et al. Summary of NIH Medical-Surgical Emergency Research Roundtable. Ann Emerg Med. 2010;56(5):522-537. 7. Cairns CB, Maier RV, Adeoye O, et al. NIH Roundtable on Emergency Trauma Research. Ann Emerg Med. 2010;56(5):538-551. 8. D’Onofrio G, Jauch E, Jagoda A, et al. NIH Roundtable on Opportunities to Advance Research on Neurologic and Psychiatric Emergencies. Ann Emerg Med. 2010;56:551-564. 9. Harken AH: The role of basic science in the training of a surgeon. Arch Surg. 1994;220:III-VI. CHAPTER 3 — WHY DO I NEED A MENTOR, AND HOW DO I FIND ONE? 11 INTRODUCTION Mentorship is one of the key ingredients to the success of any junior emergency care researcher. While there are examples of successful researchers who did not have good mentorship, these are more exceptions rather than the rule. In this chapter we hope to provide the junior investigator with a rationale for expending 

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