MECOR Program

Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research (MECOR)

The Methods in Epidemiologic, Clinical and Operations Research (MECOR) Program is   designed for pulmonary clinicians, investigators, and academicians from Central and South  America, Mexico, and the Caribbean to provide training in research methods. The MECOR Program provides four levels of courses:

Level 1: Introduction to Clinical Research is appropriate for clinicians and academicians who are engaged in the clinical practice of respiratory and sleep medicine, public health, allergy and critical care and wish to improve their skills in clinical research and investigation. No prior experience with research is needed. The textbooks used are Epidemiology by Leon Gordis (2nd Edition, Saunders) and Research Methods for Promotion of Lung Health, published by the Union (previously the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease).

Level 2: Advanced Clinical Research Methods is a continuation of the Level 1 Course and focuses on clinical epidemiology and advanced clinical research methods. Level 2 is recommended for all in pulmonary medicine who are interested in advancing their skills in clinical research. It is also appropriate for individuals who wish to improve their skills in reading the literature and research design. Prerequisite is the MECOR Level 1 Course or equivalent in experience in basic research methods. The textbook used is Designing Clinical Research by Stephen Hulley (2nd Edition, Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins

Level 3: Advanced Clinical Research Methods is designed for the individual who would like to do clinical research and/or pursue an academic career and who is in the process of considering or planning a particular research study and would like to work on this with faculty consultation. Prerequisites are the MECOR Level 2 Courses or equivalent experience. The majority of course time is devoted to individual work with faculty consultation and to beginning, mid-course, and final presentation to faculty and students for discussion and suggestions.

Lecture time is minimal and reserved for topics (e.g., sample size/power estimation, data analysis planning) relevant to specific studies on which students are working.

Level 4:Advanced Clinical Research Methods is for the individual for who has collected research data and is ready to analyze their data or write up their results for publication.  Students are expected to work largely independently, though faculty can assist with analysis and interpretation of data and with manuscript preparation.  Students whose focus is on improving their skills in analyzing data are expected to bring their own data with them to the course and have their own statistical software on their laptops and be familiar with using this software.  For those who would like to improve their skills in analyzing data but do not have their own data, a data set can be provided.

Research Project
Applicants must submit an outline of the manuscript/analysis you wish to work on, including a brief introduction, a statement of the primary hypothesis or question, a 1-2 paragraph summary of the study design and methods, and a brief description of the main findings or your planned analyses. If a draft manuscript is available, that is preferred and should be included. We have found that the week is much more productive if a draft is preparedprior to arrival. If you are planning to focus on data analysis, please provide an overview of the project and a copy of the study protocol if it is available. In general, we need to have a good idea of what you propose towork on during the course, so we can plan to assign the best faculty members to help you.