The CIHR - Quebec Respiratory Health Training Program was developed in 2003 to create a training environment that fostered additional learning in areas not covered by existing graduate programs. We used several pedagogical strategies including web-based courses, workshops and seminars to achieve our objectives.
Module | Title | Professors |
1 | Basic principles of respiratory physiology | Anne-Marie Lauzon |
2 | Sleep apnea: role of inflammation | Basil Petrof & John Kimoff |
3 | Pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis: inflammation and ion transport | André Cantin & Emmanuelle Brochiero |
4 | Pathophysiology of asthma: Th2 diseases and inflammatory response | Elyse Bissonnette |
5 | Pathophysiology of COPD and related systemic manifestation | Richard Debigaré |
6 | Response to aggression: lung fibrosis and ARDS | Yves Berthiaume |
7 | Investigation génomique et épidémiologie génétique des maladies pulmonaires | Yohan Bossé |
8 | Exam |
Module | Title | Faculty |
1 | Clinical and epidemiologic research in respiratory disease: Key concepts in study design and conduct | Dr. Kevin Schwartzman |
2 | Asthma | Dr. Pierre Ernst |
3 | Cystic fibrosis | Dr. Jennifer Landry |
4 | COPD | Dr. Jean Bourbeau |
5 | Interstitial disease/pulmonary vascular disease | Dr. Geneviève Dion |
6 | Pneumonia and tuberculosis | Dr. Sal Qureshi, Dr. Dick Menzies, Dr. Madhukar Pai |
7 | Adult respiratory distress syndrome | Dr. Olivier Lesur |
8 | Final exam | All faculty |
Ethics and scientific integrity in medical research (2 days)
Our trainees are required to attend the annual ethics and scientific integrity symposium.
World class speakers from CIHR, Health Canada, hospital boards, ethics committees, animal experimentation ethics committees,
and legal experts are involved and cover several topics related to ethics and the good conduct of research. This bilingual
symposium has become a tremendous success. It attracts over 250 attendees annually, and its impact already extends well beyond
the respiratory community. In 2008, we had participants from 3 provinces (Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia). This symposium
is endorsed by the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory health (ICRH) as well as the FRQS. The objective of this high-level
symposium is to help achieve high standards of ethics and scientific integrity in medical research in Canada. It is intended not
only to our trainees but also to Research Ethics Board (REB) members, research program administrators, professionals involved in
clinical and biomedical research (assessment, implementation or management), educators interested in research ethics, and finally
those involved in the development/elaboration of research policies. The symposium is recorded digitally on CDs in a uniform format.
Each student enrolled in the training program receives a package of these CDs, allowing to review the presentations at their leisure.
Students have the unique opportunity to exchange with ethicist, lawyers, members of REB so they can have a grasp of the importance
of ethics in medical research.
Knowledge Transfer symposium
Dr. Louis-Philippe Boulet inaugurated in 2008, a Research Chair in Knowledge Transfer in respiratory and
cardiovascular medicine. The goals of this new Chair are to increase awareness of respiratory and cardiovascular research
among practitioners, decision makers, and the public, and to foster research in the area of knowledge transfer.
The training program, in collaboration with this Chair, organized the first symposium on knowledge transfer in March 2008,
which attracted 100 participants (for the complete program, see appendix III). All trainees of the training program are
expected to participate. Expenses related to their participation are covered by the Respiratory Health Network of the FRQS.
Trainees learn to integrate knowledge transfer into the research process, and how to work with the lay media in order to
better understand their role as communicators of research results to the public. Trainees will be also expected to participate
to informal meetings with the general population in order to discuss recent development in the field of respiratory medicine
(café scientifique).
Another important knowledge translation activity of is the joined annual meeting of the Association des Pneumologues du Québec and of the Respiratory Health Network. This is one forum where trainees present (oral or poster) their scientific work to respirologists. This gives a first hand experience to the trainees to present their scientific work to health care professionals but also to build a network of collaboration between researchers and clinicians. Three 500$ prizes given by the Association des Pneumologues du Québec highlight the best presentations.
Other specialized symposia and workshops
Trainees also participate to the Tissue and Data Banking workshop (0.5 days) and to the Meakins-Christie Laboratories Workshop on advanced
technologies for exploring cellular and molecular biology of the respiratory system (2 days).
Students of the training program may also attend specialized workshops and symposia depending on their specific needs. For examples, our trainees are strongly encouraged to attend the CIHR's ICRH Young Investigators Forum to which the Respiratory Health Network contributes financially. Other workshops such as the annual meeting of the COPD group of the Respiratory Health Network and the annual Critical Care Network workshop are other learning opportunities.