The mission of DOCS is primarily philanthropic and not grounded in the creation of scholarly
work. However, with all successful and innovative projects with continuous quality improvement
there is some obligation to disseminate the information to raise awareness and augment the
work of others, provide for dialogue with others in the field, and increase recognition and self-advancement; but these should be byproducts and not primary motives. There are many other
outlets at UM to pursue primary research motivations.
Scholarly work refers to any project that is either quality improvement or research that involves
DOCS patients, processes, or resources in the health fair, clinic, or other DOCS-related
settings.
Getting Started
All scholarly work requires approval from the RQI Directors prior to the initiation of the work, and
no scholarly work can begin prior to receiving this approval. The RQI Directors meet with Dr.
Deshpande regularly to get final approval on all projects.
- Identify a faculty member who provides written acknowledgement that he/she will be the
primary investigator (PI) - Submit completed proposal to RQI via the Qualtrics form:
https://umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_38iEKzqqnV3GRKZ - Obtain IRB approval (if required, see below)
a. This can be completed at any time, but it is recommended to wait for DOCS RQI
approval in case any project revisions or modifications are recommended
IRB
Scholarly work in DOCS falls under either Quality Improvement or Research.
The UM Research and Scholarship Human Subjects Research Office website is a great place to start for guidance on whether or not a project requires IRB approval. Information about the submission process can also be found on their website. https://hsro.uresearch.miami.edu/researchers/does-my-project-need-review-by-theirb/index1.html. General information is provided below.
Quality Improvement: the primary goal of the project is to improve DOCS processes
– Can likely proceed without an IRB
– If there is interest in reporting the work, it can be done descriptively for low-stakes events such as student conferences (AAMC, CHLC, SSRFC)
– If there is intent to describe the work for a manuscript, IRB approval should be considered based on the criteria above and may be eligible for exemption or expedited submission depending on the project
Research: the primary intention of the project is research in particular with a plan for publication
(as determined by the faculty advisor/PI)
– If appropriate, IRB approval must be obtained prior to starting the work
– Student(s) need to send DOCS a copy of the IRB approval letter (including the PIs name) before beginning work that involves DOCS patients, processes, or resources in the health fair, clinic, or other DOCS-related settings
Submitting Scholarly Work for Publications/Presentations
Abstract submissions:
If there is an intention to submit any scholarly work that involves DOCS patients, processes, or
resources in the health fair, clinic, or other DOCS-related settings to any meeting or journal in
abstract, poster, or oral presentation form, the student(s) involved must let the RQI Directors
know at least SIX weeks prior to the submission deadline AND provide their abstract at
least TWO weeks prior to the submission deadline. The purpose is to ensure the content is
concordant with the mission of DOCS prior to submission and for record keeping
a. All submissions related to DOCS scholarly work must have at least one faculty member
(the PI) listed as an author and must have the DOCS logo on the poster or title slide
b. All submissions related to DOCS scholarly work must include the entire list of authors
when submitted to the RQI directors. Each submission should include at least one
DOCS staff member; it is suggested that this list includes all members who contributed
to a reasonable degree and that authorship order be determined prior to development of
the submission.
c. Any student submitting DOCS scholarly work to a meeting for an oral or poster
presentation assumes the responsibility of attending that meeting if the work is
accepted; if none of the authors can attend the meeting, then the work should not be
submitted. Oftentimes this decision needs to be made before final DOCS budgetary
considerations can be made with no guarantee of funding for the trip, so students need
to keep this in mind when submitting.
Note: Ideally any significant abstract submission listed above should be created with the
intention of developing it into a full manuscript for publication to optimize the dissemination of
the information if the depth/scope of the project are sufficient for this. Please see additional
guidance below.
Manuscript submissions:
If there is an intention to submit any scholarly work that involves DOCS patients, processes, or
resources in the health fair, clinic, or other DOCS-related settings to any meeting or journal in
manuscript form, the student(s) involved must let both the RQI Directors as well as the PI know
prior to creation of the manuscript to ensure the intended content is concordant with the
mission of DOCS.
a. The student(s) must also keep the RQI Directors abreast of manuscript progress at least
quarterly for record keeping
b. Final manuscripts must be sent to the RQI team at least TWO weeks before submission
to a journal
Funding
Students involved in scholarly work with DOCS are free to attend as many
meetings/conferences as they like. However, funding is limited and the decision on how much
money can be allocated from the DOCS budget to each meeting and to each student will be
determined by the Executive Directors and Dr. Deshpande after abstract acceptances are
finalized.