Clinical Case-Based Learning in Internal Medicine Residency

DESCRIPTION: You are invited to participate in a research study about how Internal Medicine residents work through clinical case-based exercises. You will be asked to complete a brief background survey, work through an online clinical case-based exercise, and then answer some questions about the case. You will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions that determines which digital resource is available to you during the case-based exercise; no external resources may be used during the questions that follow. Your written responses, the time you take, and your interactions with the assigned resource will be recorded for research purposes. Participation in this research is voluntary, and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time.

TIME INVOLVEMENT: Your participation will take approximately 30 to 45 minutes.

PAYMENTS: You will receive $100 as payment for your participation, disbursed through the Stanford Department of Medicine. You may stop at any time. If you withdraw before finishing, you will be paid a prorated amount proportional to the portion of the session you completed, up to the full $100; payment is not conditioned on completing the study.

Payments you receive for participating in research are generally considered taxable income. If the total amount you receive from Stanford for research participation in a calendar year is $2,000 or more, Stanford is required to report these payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and may issue you an IRS tax form. If the total amount you receive is less than $2,000, a tax form may not be issued. However, you are still responsible for reporting all taxable income on your tax return.

PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY: The risks associated with this study are minimal and are limited to the time burden of participation and the small risk of a confidentiality breach of your responses and resource-use records. Study data will be stored securely, in compliance with Stanford University standards, minimizing the risk of confidentiality breach. Your individual privacy will be maintained during the research and in all published and written data resulting from the study; only de-identified, aggregate results will be reported.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Questions: If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this research, its procedures, risks and benefits, contact the Protocol Director, Kevin Keet, MD, at kkeet@stanford.edu.

Independent Contact: If you are not satisfied with how this study is being conducted, or if you have any concerns, complaints, or general questions about the research or your rights as a participant, please contact the Stanford Institutional Review Board (IRB) to speak to someone independent of the research team at 650-723-5244 or toll free at 1-866-680-2906. You can also write to the Stanford IRB at irbeducation@stanford.edu.