Student Abstract Submission Instructions

Student Abstract Submission Instructions

All abstracts must be composed using the following outline, and submitted as an MS Word document using the form found on the third page. Abstracts submitted in other formats (e.g., as PDF documents) will not be accepted. Please, refer to the example on the following page. The presenting student must be the first author on the abstract, and the abstract must reflect work done by the student at Baylor College of Medicine. Please, send the abstract by email to André Hite () by 11:59 pm on April 27.

Title

Authors – List all authors contributing to the work. The presenting author must be listed first, followed by co-authors and senior author (usually the faculty mentor).

Background – Describe why the study was conducted and state the objective and/or hypothesis. In abstracts describing planned projects, this section should convey the rationale behind the project.

Methods – Describe how the study was conducted, focusing on study design, experimental techniques, and analytic approach. In abstracts describing work in progress, this section may describe the plans for conducting the study.

Results – Describe the most important findings of the study. Quantitative results should be reported whenever possible. Abstracts can include one figure or one table. In abstracts describing work in progress, this section may describe the anticipated results.

Conclusions – Describe the conclusions reached based specifically on the study results and comment on the relevance of the study. In abstracts describing work in progress, this section may describe the potential impact of the study in the care of patients with surgical disease.

Figures

Provide figures, photos and tables as 300 dpi .TIFF, .JPG, .PNG or .EPS files. Original native file formats such as MS Excel, .WMF from SAS, etc. may be submitted, if submitted by April 4.

Tip: Avoid symbol fonts such as ,, in your abstract; instead spell them out as in: alpha, beta, gamma.

Scoring Criteria

Abstracts will be scored based on the following five criteria:

Significance and innovation – Does the abstract address an important problem or question? Is the study objective or hypothesis clearly stated?
Study design and methods – Are the methods appropriate and clearly described?
Results and analysis – Do the results address the scientific question or hypothesis? Do the results reflect an appropriate analysis? Are quantitative data reported whenever possible?
Conclusions – Are the conclusions justified by the data? Do the conclusions relate specifically to the stated objective or hypothesis?
Clarity – Is the overall abstract clearly written and easy to understand? If used, is the table or figure clear and informative?

EXAMPLE

Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery Resident Research Day

Name: _Ryan Helmick______Email: ______

Faculty mentor: __Samir Awad, MD______Student level (MS1, MS2, etc.): ____MS3______

Type of research (basic science, clinical, outcomes/health services, education): ____Clinical ______

Enter abstract below

Abstract text must be in single-spaced, 11-point Arial font, must fit in the space below, and must include Title, Authors, Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions sections. List all authors; the presenting author must be listed as first author. One figure or one table can be added on a second page.

Title: Hepatitis C carrier status does not correlate with worse outcome in the surgical ICU

Authors: Ryan A. Helmick; Mike Kueht, MD; Meredith L. Knofsky DO; Samir S. Awad, MD

Introduction

Hepatitis C infection is thought to cause immune dysfunction through chronic inflammation and immune activation. The clinical implications of hepatitis C carrier status (HCCS) outside of active infection or cirrhosis are not well described. We aim to characterize the clinical ramifications of HCCS on patients admitted to the surgical ICU.

Methods

We retrospectively queried our prospectively collected ICU database for all patients admitted between October 2008 and April 2012. Of 1672 patients identified, 152 (10%) were HCCS. Statistical comparisons were performed with Wilcoxon rank sum test.

Results

Statistically significant characterizations between HCCS and non-HCCS included ICU length of stay (6.8±0.76 vs. 5.5±0.18 days), age (60.1±0.53 vs. 64.5±0.26 years), BMI (26.3±0.45 vs. 28.8±0.16), coronary artery disease (21.7% vs. 40.9%), hyperlipidemia (23.7% vs. 58.3%), hypertension (57.9% vs. 71.7%), and cirrhosis with portal hypertension (19.7% vs. 0.8%). APACHE2 scores (15.4±0.54 vs. 13±0.16) and admission MELD scores (16.2±0.74 vs. 12.6±0.18) were higher in HCCS, though 24-hour MELD scores (16.0±0.69 vs. 13.5±0.17) were not statistically different. Postoperatively, there were no statistically significant differences in infections, ventilator days, or cardiac complications, though there was a higher usage of dopamine in HCCS (13.2% vs. 2.31%).

Conclusions

Our hepatitis C cohort was younger, had lower BMI, and less cardiac comorbidity, yet still spent more time in the ICU. This study demonstrates that, despite theorized immune suppression from chronic hepatitis C infection, there are no significant increases in postoperative infectious complications.

Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery Resident Research Day – Student Abstract Form

Name: ______Email: ______

Faculty mentor: ______Student level (MS1, MS2, etc.): ______

Type of research (basic science, clinical, outcomes/health services, education): ______

Enter abstract below

Abstract text must be in single-spaced, 11-point Arial font, must fit in the space below, and must include Title, Authors, Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions sections. List all authors; the presenting author must be listed as first author. One figure or one table can be added on a second page.

Title:

Authors: (list full name and credentials [MD, PhD])