Research Opportunities for Residents and Fellows

Research opportunities are available for Kaiser Permanente physicians, residents, and fellows. Residents and fellows are regularly involved in on-going research projects dealing with current medical studies within their own specialty or other areas of interest. Each year Kaiser Permanente Southern California physicians publish an average of one hundred projects each year. Physicians are given multiple resources to assist with finding topics, literature searches, statistical consultation, and funding.

The Kaiser Foundation Research Institute provides infrastructure to support medical research in California and other Kaiser Permanente Regions. Kaiser Permanente operates two large health research departments in California . For over 40 years, our research programs have been dedicated to the creation of knowledge to benefit our members, our communities and the world. In sharing this knowledge, Kaiser Permanente's research efforts support our mission of community service.

The Department of Research and Evaluation was founded by the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Epidemiologists and health services researchers work on projects in cancer epidemiology, cardiology, diabetes, geriatrics and aging, perinatal health and women's health. The department also oversees a federally mandated Institutional Review Board.

The Clinical Library is Kaiser Permanente's online resource for clinical guidelines, member education handouts, drug and lab information, online CME, and full-text journals and textbooks. Residents and fellows are able to expand their knowledge and enhance patient care through this 24-hr resource.

On-Campus Health Sciences/Medical Libraries are available at each Medical Center . Some of our library services include: circulation of materials, textbooks, CD-ROM programs, AV/DVD and audio materials, board review specialty materials, inter-library loan of documents, and instruction about accessing the Internet and Kaiser Permanente Intranet. Patrons may access CL (Clinical Library website) to perform literature searches, using OVID, MDConsult, PubMed, and StatRef databases, Clinical Guidelines, and over 1,200 e-journals and 76 e- textbooks. During normal hours of operation, an Information Specialist (aka Medical Librarian) is available to assist patrons in performing searches.

Recent Kaiser Permanente Research Projects

• Urodynamic Evaluation Patients Undergoing Spinal Lumbar Stenosis Corrective Surgery with Urinary Dysfunction Symptoms
• Assessment of Pituitary-Gonadal Axis in Male Kidney Stone Formers
• A Prognostic Study of Sentinel Node and Bone Marrow Micrometastases
• A Randomized, Prospective Trial of Ablation Therapy for Barrett's Esophagus
• Improving Lives of Children with Epilepsy Project
• HIV/AIDS Patients' Perceptions of Care Behaviors of their HIV Care Provider
• Youth Partners in Care: Quality Improvement for Depression
• Bilateral Uterine Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding
• Measuring Primary Care Competency - Linking Knowledge to Clinical Behavior
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients with Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease

Download a feature article about Kaiser Permanente's commitment to research, "Something in the Genes" (pdf).