The Clin-IQ (Clinical Inquiries) Process


Clin-IQ (Clinical Inquiries) is a process that makes it both possible and mutually beneficial for residents, faculty and community clinicians to identify, ask and answer clinical questions through the evidence-based assessment of the published research literature.



1. The Clin-IQ process helps  residency programs comply with ACGME Residency Review Committee (RRC) requirements for resident and faculty involvement in scholarly activity as described in the following RRC program requirements:

  • residents should participate in scholarly activities;
  • residency faculty should encourage and support residents in scholarly activities;
  • residency programs must have a curriculum that advances residents’ knowledge of the basic principles of research, including how research is conducted, evaluated, explained to patients, and applied to patient care;
  • residency faculty must establish and maintain an environment of inquiry and scholarship with an active research component, and
  • the sponsoring institution and program should allocate resources to facilitate resident involvement in scholarly activities.

2. It also creates a critically important link between academia and community practitioners that can inform both education and research.


Specific Clin-IQ Goals, Objectives and Evaluation Strategies


Specific goals of the Clin-IQ process are to

1.   Involve residents in clinically relevant, scholarly research

2.   Develop a collaborative learning community between residents, faculty and interested community clinicians.

3.   Create opportunities for presentation and publication of scholarly research.

4.   Meet ACGME requirements for resident research.

5.   Establish a database of clinically relevant research questions.

Upon completion of the Clin-IQ Process, residents will be able to:

1.   Recognize and construct well-formulated, clinically relevant questions.

2.   Access appropriate literature of the highest level of evidence relevant to a clinical question.

3.   Interpret the results from published literature.

4.   Appraise the validity and strength of evidence of the literature selected.

5.   Summarize the results for an audience of their peers, faculty mentors, and community clinicians.

6.   Synthesize the literature in a written document.

7.   Follow instructions for authors for scholarly writing.

8.   Produce a publication ready document of their findings.

Evaluation of Clin-IQ projects

1. Each document is peer-reviewed and revised as indicated.

2. Faculty mentors review the document for accuracy, completeness and readiness for publication; residents revise as indicated.

3. A Clin-IQ residency scholarly activities director reviews and designates the document for publication.

4. If submitted for publication, Clin-IQs undergo peer review.

Measureable Outcomes

1. Increased numbers of resident and faculty scholarly publications and presentations and posters.

2. Closer ties between academic faculty and community practitioners unique to each discipline (e.g. more collaboration around professional meetings, development of practice-based research networks, etc.).

For more information, contact Laine McCarthy, Clin-IQ Coordinator (laine-mccarthy@ouhsc.edu, 405/271-8000-1-32206)