NMCP Educates Through Research Fair

PORTSMOUTH, UNITED STATES

Story by Seaman Imani Daniels

Naval Medical Center – Portsmouth

Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) hosted a Research Fair Sept. 10 for residents and faculty to help connect with research-related resources that the command offers, and to inspire research collaborations among staff.

The fair offered 16 stations that were staffed by representatives from the Clinical Investigation Department, Visual Information Department, Library Services, Nursing Research and multiple Graduate Medical Education programs, as well as representatives from Women’s Health, Pediatrics Department and Otolaryngology Clinic who spoke about ongoing research projects within their departments.

“The Research Fair is a show and tell of what the medical center staff is doing by way of research and advancing Navy Medicine and improving patient care,” said Marie Dillard, research resources team leader for the Clinical Investigation Department. “The importance of the Research Fair is to get the word out about the resources we have available to potential new and seasoned researchers.”

In addition to helping residents and faculty become more familiar with the research resources available at NMCP and to highlight current ongoing projects, the intent of the fair was to also help these staff members network and connect to mentors.

“We have two purposes,” Thomas Rieg said. “One purpose is to introduce new investigators and new interns to all the resources that are available here at the medical center. The second purpose is to have all the investigators collaborate with their resources.”

Kersten Wheeler, Research Subjects Protection division head and Research Fair participant, further explained that connecting and networking with other research staff members helps to ensure that command subjects are protected in every way possible.

“What is important about research here at NMCP is that we do a lot of translational studying,” Wheeler said. “This means that the inquiry we do impacts patient care, patient safety and also makes improvements on the battlefield; it really has a wide ranging impact.”

The fair isn’t just for medical center staff members, but it is also dedicated to educating patients and active duty dependents as well.

“We like for patients and dependents to stop through the Research Fair,” Rieg said. “We want them to see what the fair is all about in terms of education and research at NMCP, and learn from researchers about what it is that we do to improve quality patient care.”

As the U.S. Navy’s oldest, continuously-operating military hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally-acclaimed, state-of-the-art medical center, along with the area’s 10 branch health and TRICARE Prime Clinics, provide care for the Hampton Roads area. The medical center also supports premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsman for future roles in healing and wellness.