SUMMARY EXPLANATION OF RESEARCH
Penn State College of Medicine
Penn State Health
Title of Project: Transformative Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: a cross sectional survey of trainees and faculty at an academic medical center
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Vipler, M.D.
Address:
90 Hope Drive, A580
Hershey, PA, 17033
Telephone Numbers: Weekdays: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (717) 531-0003 x287710
You are being invited to volunteer to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who voluntarily choose to take part. This summary explains key information about this research. You are urged to ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.
- The purpose of this study is to evaluate if and how the COVID-19 pandemic led to perspective transformation (a theory known as transformative learning) in medical and physician assistant (PA) students, graduate medical trainees, and faculty at Penn State Health. We also hope to understand how the experiences of these three groups differed during the pandemic.
- You are being asked to take a survey. Please answer the questions specifically as they relate to your school, training, or work experience with COVID-19. You are free to skip any questions you do not wish to answer in the survey.
- It is expected that it will take 15-20 minutes to complete the survey.
- You may experience slight discomfort or anxiety as you complete the survey. The Office of Professional Mental Health at Penn State College of Medicine has been established as a resource for students, trainees, and faculty as a psychological resource. The director of this office is Kelly Holder and can be reached by email at kholder@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
- There is a risk of loss of confidentiality if your information or your identity is obtained by someone other than the investigators, but precautions will be taken to prevent this from happening. The confidentiality of your electronic data created by you or by the researchers will be maintained to the degree permitted by the technology used. Absolute confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. For this study, no personally identifying information will be collected.
- At the end of the survey, you will receive bar graphs that indicate which outcomes and processes of transformative learning clearly describe your experience.
- There is no direct benefit to subjects participating in this study. The results of this research have timely implications on understanding how individuals make meaning of life-changing experiences which will provide valuable information to guide leaders in medicine to improve educational experiences and work satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, and future public health emergencies.
- There is no compensation provided for participating in the survey.
- Funding for this research study is provided by the Department of Medicine at the Penn State College of Medicine through the Inspiration Pilot Award.
- The investigators do not have any consultative or financial relationships related to the research.
- No identifiable health information will be collected in this survey.
- The de-identified data from this study will be shared with the developers of the transformative learning survey to further establish the validity and reliability of the survey in multiple contexts
- Your permission for the use and sharing of your answers to this survey will continue indefinitely. The data collected by this survey could be used in future research studies or distributed to another investigator for future research studies without additional consent from the subject.
In the event of any publication or presentation resulting from the research, no personally identifiable information will be shared (as none is collected). - You have the right to ask any questions you may have about this research. If you have questions, complaints or concerns or believe you may have been harmed from participating in this research, you should contact Dr. Vipler at bvipler@pennstatehealth.psu.edu. If you have questions regarding your rights as a research subject or concerns regarding your privacy, you may contact the research protection advocate in the HMC Human Subjects Protection Office at 717-531-5687. You may call this number to discuss any problems, concerns or questions; get information or offer input.
- You do not have to participate in this research. Taking part in the research study is voluntary. Your decision to participate or to decline the research will not result in any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are entitled.
- You must be 18 years of age or older to take part in this research study.
- Your completion of the questionnaire implies that you have read the information in this form, voluntarily consent to participate in the research, and to allow your information to be used and shared as described above.