Advising

1. Is working in pairs an option?

Students can work individually or in pairs. If working in a pair, each member of the pair must provide a justification for how each member will contribute to the project within the Project Approval Form. Students must receive approval to work in pairs from their Advisors prior to starting the project.

2. I hope you are doing well, I just had a quick question. Can I share the same research project mentor with another student if the mentor is willing?

There aren’t any requirements written into course project procedures that “cap” the number of mentees per mentor when projects are distinct. Up to 2 students can share a single project as well. 

Overall, my recommendation is to take mentor experience and availability for project activities into consideration when assessing learner/mentor fit overall. I recommend reading recently completed research articles by the mentor. Recent research articles can be searched via PubMed, reviewing the mentor's Google Scholar (Example) or institutional profile page, or asking them directly for reading recommendations. 

I also recommend asking questions about availability, current students and projects, and expectations to support a 2-way evaluation of fit. 

For example,

• How much time do you typically allocate to mentoring students each week or month?

• What is your preferred method of communication for regular updates and questions? Are there specific times of the year when your schedule is particularly busy, and how do you manage mentoring during those periods?

• How many students are you currently mentoring, and what types of projects are they working on? What strategies do you use to ensure equitable attention across multiple students and projects?

• What level of independence do you expect from students in managing projects?

3.  Can I design my own project?

Yes, projects can be designed to meet the course/program project requirements. Ultimately, they’ll be entered into the MINDS database for tracking purposes, but that can occur as the project is reviewed/approved.

4. How do I make an advising appointment and/or attend office hours?

Standing office hour appointments are available throughout each semester. If you don't have the office hour scheduling link, please email me using either of your institutional email accounts to request it anytime.

5. Can advising appointments be in groups?

Yes, a group advising meeting is fine. Following the meeting, to align with documentation requirements for the course/program. I look forward to meeting.

6. Are advising meetings via zoom or in-person?

Advising meetings are via webconference using Microsoft Teams (health system account) with an option for dial-in by phone. There is no requirement to use the video function and meetings can be completed with audio-only. When scheduling via the online scheduling link, a calendar invitation will be generated with a meeting-specific login link and an option for a telephone call-in.

7. My advising appointment time doesn't match what I selected in the scheduling portal. Is it possible to adjust the meeting to the time I originally scheduled?

Several users have noticed that their settings have defaulted to PST instead of CST. Changing the settings in your account and/or device should correct the mismatched times. If scheduling availability permits, I can also adjust the calendar invite after it is sent and I'm happy to navigate this on a case-by-case basis via email request.

8. For advising meetings, should we come with a prepared set of questions and topics or since we are MS1 students is this more of a brainstorming session?

Office hours are intended for questions/topics for any stage of the program (e.g., topic interests, feasibility, project-specific challenges/solutions). 

If there are documents to be discussed in detail, please send any relevant information ahead of meeting (best to send at least 2 days before meeting date to allow for pre-review).

9. Can office hours/advising appointments in August fulfill the Fall semester Project Advisor meeting requirement?

If the timing of the office hours/advising appointment is during the months listed for the required Project Advisor meeting for the semester then it fulfills that requirement. For example, for the Fall semester, the meeting needs to occur in September/October to fulfill the Fall semester requirement. The current dates for each Project Advisor meeting requirement are formally listed in the course management system.

10. Is advising available between semesters?

Advising meetings are available most weeks during the year. Advising meetings are not available on dates when academic facilities are designated as closed. Examples of typical holiday closure schedules include:

• Thanksgiving Holiday: Wednesday, November 26 - Friday, November 28, 2025

• End-of-year: Wednesday, December 24, 2025 - Friday, December 26, 2025; and Monday, December 29, 2025 - January 2, 2026. 

• Facilities re-open on Monday, January 5, 2026

1. Would I need to meet for advising to have the project approved before initiating the IRB process?

In order to use the project to fulfill program requirements, the project approval is required at the start of the project. There is no requirement for an IRB status at the time of starting the Inquiry approval process. In some cases, IRB approval has already been received when the Inquiry project approval is requested. In other cases, IRB approval is part of the project start-up timeline. There are also scenarios when IRB approval is not required (e.g., systematic reviews, meta-analysis). There is no requirement to meet for advising before initiating an IRB process, but I have regular availability to meet for advising for questions, brainstorming, troubleshooting, advice, etc. Similarly, there is no requirement to meet before submitting an Inquiry Approval form, but I remain available to meet when it is helpful to you at any stage (planning, data collection, analysis, publication, post-publication).

2. Does a systematic review project require IRB approval?

In most cases, systematic review projects do not require IRB approval because they involve analyzing and synthesizing data from already-published and publicly available studies. There is usually no participant-level individual data collection involved and any meta-analysis is using aggregated/grouped and publicly available data. IRB oversight is generally not needed for systematic reviews or meta-analysis projects. Of note, if your project involves any additional components beyond the review of published literature (e.g., surveys of experts, secondary analysis of unpublished data, or use of identifiable records), then IRB review may be necessary. Advisors and mentors are available to confirm expectations.

3. What is the typical timeline to receive decisions/feedback on Project submissions?

Decisions with feedback are generally provided within 1-2 weeks of project submission. Most initial submissions receive a "Revise and Resubmit" status with comments requesting specific information. The most common reasons for a "revise and resubmit" status are described in the next FAQ entry. It is common to receive "revise and resubmit" decisions at each stage of the research process (throughout  every career stage), including but not limited to, Inquiry Project Approvals, IRB applications, manuscript submissions.

4. Do you have any advice on Project application submissions?

Common "revise and resubmit" requests include

• The Data Analysis plan (sample size justification/power analysis and statistical analysis plan) is missing and is needed for review.

• For chart reviews: What is the individual student responsibility for the number of charts to screen, review and abstract data? What is the abstraction burden in terms of number of measures, estimated time per chart review for data entry, etc.? 

• For chart reviews or data extractions: Please include a copy of the Data Collection Form.

5. What is the purpose of an iRIS account?

The IRB at the health system uses an electronic research submission process with an internet-based platform: "Integrated Research Information System" (iRIS). If project approval (or exemption determination) is needed, the documentation of the submission is handled by the IRB administrative team using the iRIS platform. Individual user iRIS accounts are needed for all named investigators, collaborators, and research staff for each project.

6. I am interested in conducting a QI project to fulfill program requirements. Do QI projects differ from research projects for the program?

Generally, Quality Improvement (QI) projects differ from research in their purpose and methodology. QI typically focuses only on improving a local process or outcome, and common methodologies include Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles with QI-specific analysis plans to evaluate change. In contrast, research is designed to generate generalizable knowledge with varied study designs. 

The regulatory process (IRB review) can vary, but it depends entirely on the scope of the project. Some QI projects require IRB approval while others are designated as QI by the IRB and don’t undergo formal review and approval processes.

Reporting guidance can also vary. QI projects often use the SQUIRE guidelines, while observational research studies use STROBE, systematic reviews use PRISMA, etc.

As you’re developing a project (whether QI or research), I recommend seeking early input on the analysis plan from our biostatistics team that is available for consultation.

7. If using the option for "working in pairs", should the approval form and mentor-mentee form be completed separately for credit, or is only one submission needed?

Students can work individually or in pairs. If working in a pair, each member of the pair must provide a justification on their individual submission of the program Project Approval Form for how each member will contribute to the project. Students must receive approval to work in pairs from their Project Advisors prior to starting the project.

To fulfill Program documentation requirements, each individual student must submit each component of documentation individually to receive academic credit. This includes individual submission of the Project Approval Form, individual submission of the Mentor-Mentee Compact, and individual submissions of the Progress Reports and Final Report work products. The content of the Approval Form and Final Report work products can be identical because of working in pairs on the project and because the justification and distribution of shared workload is pre-approved at the start.

8. Can I receive feedback on my submission before submitting it? 

Yes, I’m happy to provide feedback and answer questions about course/program assignments. 

My practice for pre-review requests in advance of submission for assignment scoring is to offer standing office hours to provide feedback and answer questions. The reason is because direct editing/revision recommendations from the advisor role cannot be offered for all submissions, but office hours are available to all.

The default duration for office hours in my scheduling link is 15 minutes, but up to 30 minutes is available by booking consecutive appointments 

If scheduling time for office hours, it’s the most helpful to send related materials a few days prior to meeting to allow for pre-review.

9. Should I send news of abstract and manuscript acceptance decisions?

Yes! Please do, and I will use the information to send a congratulations note via the health system recognition system.

10. If I finish the presentation and final report several months before the final deadline, may I opt-out from future advising meetings?

Please complete all components of the Inquiry project milestones. After all submissions are complete, you can opt-out and waive future advising meetings.

• Complete Progress Reports #1-4

• Schedule a final Inquiry Advisor meeting.

• Submit the final report and presentation (including a recording/voice over) via the e-platform. A PDF confirmation will be generated for upload.

1. Systematic Reviews

2. Writing Manuscripts

I recommend reviewing Viglianti 2019 CHEST for practical advice on common team-related aspects and advice on style/framing of manuscript components.