If you do or do not have an idea for a research project, contact Godwin Dogbey (research study) or Michael Weiser (case report), to discuss your thoughts, research questions, and details of the research or scholarly process.

Some ways that you can begin to generate your own ideas include:

• Keeping your eyes open for interesting clinical cases that may serve as the subjects for case reports.

• Reading journal articles on subjects of interest in various specialties; pay particular attention to author’s conclusions for areas needing further research.

• Keeping a list/journal of all potential research ideas; keep refining the topics and ideas as your knowledge increases.

• Becoming familiar with the ongoing research at your institution; join a project and propose your own research as an offshoot of that project.

• Brainstorming with peers in a specific discipline to determine gaps in overall knowledge and understanding of that specialty.

• Looking for the variation between the articulated standard of care or established practice guidelines and the day-to-day reality of clinical practice; why do variations exist?