UC Davis Health
Department of Internal Medicine
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clinical-research-intro

Introduction to Clinical Research

Limited space available.  Deadline September 2nd, 2026

The UC Davis Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, in conjunction with faculty colleagues from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, is presenting an introductory course in Clinical Research. This 31-hour course will be offered on seven days between Wednesday, September 9, 2026 and Friday, September 22, 2026 as detailed below.  Principal instructors, Patrick Romano, M.D., M.P.H. and colleagues have designed this course for new faculty, fellows, nurses, and other health professionals interested in launching a career that will involve conducting or interpreting clinical research. 

This intensive course is designed to meet the requirements for research methods training in most ACGME-accredited fellowship training programs by covering issues related to developing a research question, synthesizing the literature, study design, data collection, questionnaire design, data management, sample size planning, data analysis, research presentation and publication. 

DATE

LARGE GROUP

SMALL GROUP

Wednesday, September 9

 9 a.m.- Noon 1 p.m.- 3 p.m.

Friday, September 11

9 a.m.- Noon

 1 p.m.- 3 p.m.

Tuesday, September 15

9 a.m.- Noon

Wednesday, September 16

9 a.m.- Noon

1 p.m.- 3 p.m.

Thursday, September 17

9 a.m.- Noon

Friday, September 18

9 a.m.- Noon

1 p.m.- 3 p.m.

Tuesday, September 22

9 a.m.- Noon

1 p.m.- 3 p.m.

 

Location

BIMH 2603 (most days)

Tuition

$350 - UC Davis Participant

$450 - Non-UC Davis Participant

Registration

Register Here

Requirements

All attendees must provide their own laptop for hands-on sample size planning sessions.
Submit a one-paragraph summary of your research interests at the time of registration.

COURSE GOALS

This course provides an introduction to clinical research. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the differences between qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as observational and experimental designs.

  2. Discuss the strengths and limitations of cross-sectional, case-control, retrospective cohort, prospective cohort, quasi-experimental, and experimental studies, including randomized trials.

  3. Attend to ethical issues involved in conducting research with human subjects.

  4. Systematically review the clinical literature, and appreciate the potential benefits of meta-analysis.

  5. Discuss principles of measurement in clinical epidemiological studies, including precision, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive accuracy.

  6. Recognize the impact of diverse populations and local demography on research design.

  7. Apply basic methods for analyzing data, including descriptive and analytic statistical approaches.

  8. Identify and utilize common web-based tools for calculating power and sample size.

  9. Develop an approach to formulating a research question, effectively leveraging existing data when appropriate.

  10. Appropriately structure a research grant proposal, scientific abstract proposal, scientific abstract poster, and scientific oral abstract presentation.


Advance registration is required. For registration questions, please contact Bri Lee at brzlee@health.ucdavis.edu

For general course information you may contact Patrick Romano at psromano@ucdavis.edu.