Research Symposium: Creating Lasting HSR Relationships!
Guest Blogger, Angela Thomas, MPH, MBA, Executive Director, Health Services Research Administration, MedStar Health Research Institute
Each year it
gets bigger and better! I’ve had the
pleasure of attending all four annual Research Symposium events, and each year
I marvel at its ability to create a tangible and infectious energy around
research aimed at advancing health. As
the Executive Director of Health Services Research (HSR) Administration, this year
was particularly special because it also represented a celebration of many
great strides we've made in health services research this year.
We had over
30 health services research posters presented at this year’s symposium
representing a variety of topics including telehealth, quality, safety, human
factors, palliative care, simulation, patient engagement, and surgical
outcomes. The Executive Director of
PCORI, a major health services research funding agency, our guest speaker, Dr.
Joe Selby not only delivered remarks that spoke to the necessity of research in
a real-world, care delivery setting, but also dedicated his time, knowledge,
and expertise to meet with several health services investigators and members of
the MedStar Health Patient and Family Advisory Council for Quality and Safety
(PFACQS) prior to the symposium. Both
meetings helped to inform future directions of our health services research
program.
This year, we
were also pleased to welcome several outside guests who have become
collaborators with several investigators in our health services research
program. Guests from Booz Allen Hamilton
attended the event and were not only extremely impressed with the quantity and
quality of research happening at MedStar, but also walked away with ideas in
several areas for continued collaboration with MedStar. We also welcomed Dr. Karl Steiner, Vice
President of Research for University of Maryland at Baltimore County. He was impressed with the strong academic
nature of the posters presented and commented to me that he remains excited to
be collaborating with MedStar! All
guests remarked that they were impressed with the MedStar Health leadership’s
engagement and support of research.
Finally, this
was the first year of post-reception events, including our first Health
Services Research Post-Symposium Reception.
Here, the goal was to capitalize on the tremendous energy from the
symposium, have a networking reception for the investigators to make new
connections, connect with Dr. Selby and our Booz Allen Hamilton guests, and to
foster new collaborations. We also aimed
to celebrate our success over the past year having several projects awarded,
including most recently the ACTION III Network.
The result? We laughed, we ate, we drank, we connected, and we
celebrated! The night ended around 9:30
with several of us giving each other hugs in the parking structure. I’d say that we accomplished our aims! It was a long day, but a great one! I look
forward to attending my fifth research symposium next year!
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