Research at Family and Community Medicine

Research

Overview

UCSF Fresno Department of Family & Community Medicine has made a special commitment to the development of community-based primary care research. The research team conducts original research, guides and supports the research interests of clinical faculty, fellows, and residents, and implements formal evidence-based medicine (EBM) curriculum for residents.

EBM

The EBM curriculum is focused on the practical applications of using electronic information and critically appraising the evidence on which clinical decisions are made. Residents and faculty submit clinical questions, receive training in literature search skills to find answers to those questions, discuss evidence pertaining to their questions and apply scientific evidence to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients. This innovative approach is designed to teach residents the skills they need to become life-long and self-directed learners.

Scholarly Activities

During the three-year residency program, residents complete two scholarly projects: a research project in a topic of interest and a quality improvement project based on their clinic continuity patients. Residents receive extensive support, encouragement, and specialized training for their projects from the research team.

Research Faculty

The Research Director is Susan Hughes, MS, whose training in biostatistics is utilized on many research projects. She is responsible for overseeing research activities and working with, residents, fellows, and faculty in the department. Ms. Hughes won the UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program Faculty Research Award in June 2009 based in part on her publication about trends in rural and urban births in California.

Other members of the research team include M. Shoaib Khan, MD, Mehak Kaur, MA, and Bousaba Torres, BA. Dr. Khan is the clinical expert of the team. He is an academic family physician with extensive experience in public health, clinical and outcomes research. He has been an active researcher for the past 15 years, with work that encompasses multiple specialties across several prestigious research institutions in the United States and abroad, as evidenced by his diverse publication and presentation portfolio. His research interests include clinical topics in adult and pediatric medicine, obstetrical care, underserved care, global health, and clinical outcomes. He established a specialty primary care clinic at one of our residency training sites in an FQHC for treating patients with HIV, chronic HCV/HBV infections, and addiction care including medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Mehak has a background in research methods and psychology. She works with the residents on their quality improvement projects as well as their scholarly activities. She also coordinates the objective structured clinical/teaching experiences in the department. Bousaba is the Program Assistant and provides direct administrative support to the research team.

Other faculty members conduct research activities as well. Family Medicine faculty have been awarded the UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program Faculty Research Award six times. Research and other scholarly activities are ongoing in such areas as diabetes, congestive heart failure, faculty development, palliative care, addiction, and maternal child health.