Articulating the "So, What?" in Clinical Research: Insight from the M-CHOIR Group

Abstract

With the academic culture of "publish or perish," authors must ensure that they are delivering high-quality data with a meaningful impact on clinical practice. Even for physician-scientists at the top of their fields, establishing the relevance of a study to clinical practice is a challenge. Thus, it is essential that research proposals ask questions that are clinically important, use appropriate methodologies, and examine outcomes that are relevant to both the physicians and the patients. The question of "so, what?" or in other words, "who cares?" is one that can make or break a study's impact on clinical practice. Researchers should use models such as PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study design) and FINER (Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant) and ask why readers will care about their study's findings before the study is conducted. By doing so, researchers can ensure the successful execution of their study and a meaningful impact of their findings, in both academia and clinical practice. This Special Topic article aims to guide researchers in producing relevant, impactful conclusions of their studies by providing input and resources from the Michigan Center for Hand Outcomes and Innovation (M-CHOIR) group.

Fig. 1.

The breakdown of a failed research proposal.

Fig. 2.

The FINER model.

Fig. 3.

The PICOS model.

Fig. 4.

Example of research question emphasizing PICOS and clinical relevance. *Saito et al.

Fig. 5.

Steps to execute a successful research proposal.

Fig. 6.

Example of a “First Page.”

Fig. 7.

Questions to consider while writing the “First Page.”