Scholarly Pairings for Academic & Research Collaboration (SPARC)
Overview
The SPARC program invites regional students at all levels from education, the social sciences, and other disciplines to explore opportunities to collaborate with faculty in the Department of Family Medicine (DFM) at SUNY Upstate Medical University. The primary goal for this program is to allow students and DFM faculty to produce scholarly papers, presentations, and other academic output, together as collaborators. This allows the student to access populations, data, pre-doctoral publication opportunities, and potentially unique research opportunities that would not otherwise be available to them. At the same time, it allows DFM faculty and collaborators to tap into the skills, knoweldge, and expertise that many students already have.
This project has been made possible by intra-departmental funding and commitment of effort, as well as by a federal grant award from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA grant D54HP05462, Andrea T. Manyon, PI).
There are a wide range of topical areas, projects, and methods that students may explore via SPARC. The Division of Research and Academic Development oversees research covering several key areas, and takes a broad view of the concepts of research, academics, and development. Faculty academic interests within the division and within the department include, but are not limited to:
Research in the evaluation and improvement of Medical Education, particularly ways to prepare students for primary care and service to underserved populations;
Care for patients with developmental disabilities
Medical Ethics, Distributive Justice in Healthcare, and Medical Citizenship (see the Research Experieance in Ethics and Health page for an exciting summer opportunity in this area);
Practice improvement and the delivery of quality primary health care within our region;
Mental/Behavioral Health in Primary Care;
Health disparities and health policy.
The Division of Research and Academic Development is also committed to employing the skills contained within the division that are typically associated with "research," such as survey design and implementation, data analysis, focus group and in-depth interviewing, and grant writing, to aid and assist the missions of the other divisions within our department. Therefore participation in SPARC may take several forms:
Students, especially advanced graduate students, may propose collaborative efforts which lead to co-authored publications, collaborative grant submissions, etc.
Students may sign on to work within an existing research project, bringing their unique skills and perspectives
The DFM also hires graduate and undergraduate students as interns, to help with tasks such as the development of educational materials, grant submission, and so forth.
SPARC Associates - Current and Former
Recent Graduate-level Completers
Jennifer Flad, Ph.D. is currently Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. While completing her dissertation in Medical Sociology at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, Professor Flad conducted qualitative focus groups with medical students undergoing a new standardized patient examination format. This work resulted in a poster presentation at the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) Annual Meeting in Novmber 2008. Additionally, the first of several manuscripts resulting from this work is presently under review, and a podium presentation will be given at NAPCRG 2009 this coming November, in Montreal. We are looking forward to continuing our collaboration with Dr. Flad!
Current Graduate Research Associates
Lindsey Kingston, M.A. is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Social Science Program at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. Ms. Kingston's primary research interest is in examining the effects of statelessness on the rights - and lives - of people around the globe. As a SPARC Graduate Research Associate, Ms. Kingston lead and co-authored a debate-format manuscript addressing the effects of statelessness and lack of nationality upon access to healthcare, as a collaborative effort between faculty in the Department of Family Medicine, and with Professor Elizabeth F. Cohen at the Maxwell School. This manuscript is currently under review, and additional collaborative ventures are being planned.
Mary Grace Flaherty, M.A., M.L.S, is a doctoral student at the School of Information Studies of Syracuse University. She has experience working in academic, medical research, and public libraries. As a SPARC associate, Ms. Flaherty works closely within a collaboration between the Department of Family Medicine and faculty and staff from the Department of Pediatrics at SUNY Upsate Medical University, and specifically with Dr. Nienke Dosa and Kim Garver, MSW. Ms. Flaherty recently performed a chart review study over the summer of 2009, looking at information sharing patterns and preferences at The Spina Bifida Center run by Dr. Dosa, and at health status of 130 adult patients there. She is working on a manuscript derived from this work at present. Ms. Flaherty also helped to write research protocols to be implemented in the near future for the Healthy Transitions Training Institute.
Celestia Ohrazda is working toward a PhD in Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation at Syracuse University, and her dissertation focuses on the validation of a causal model of technology integration, specifically targeting an educator's adoption of technologies in classroom instruction.. Her research explores the use of emerging technologies in learning environments outside the classroom. As a SPARC associate, Ms. Ohrazda serves as a the usability engineer for the Healthy Transitions Training Institute.
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Antara Mitra, MBA is currently working toward her Master of Public Health through the CNYMPH program, and will work as a grant writing intern in the Department of Family Medicine for 2009-2010.
Undergraduate Research Associates are also welcome to participate!
SPARC Administration
The director of the SPARC Program is Christopher P. Morley, Ph.D. Dr. Morley is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and of Public Health at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and also serves as Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Family Medicine. The Division of Research and Academic Development in the Department of Family Medicine aims to promote research, publication and scholarship within the Department of Family Medicine, with collaborators in other departments and at other instistutions, as well as to aid and assist the missions of the other divisions in the department through the lending of traditional research skills such as survey design and implementation, data analysis, focus group and in-depth interviewing, and grant writing. This broad scope provides a wide range of opportunities for those interested in becoming SPARC associates.
Contact Information
Questions and inquiries may be directed to:
Christopher P. Morley
Department of Family Medicine
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Madison Irving Medical Center, Suite 200
475 Irving Ave
Syracuse, NY 13210
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