VA Palo Alto Health Care System is looking for a Research Coordinator for a full-time (or part-time negotiable) 4-year VA HSR&D project. The goal of this project is to understand the factors that influence the fidelity, adaptation, and implementation of initiating a standardized frailty screening for elective surgery patients. Frail patients will then be referred to a multidisciplinary board of experts (PAUSE Board) that will provide pre-operative recommendations based on the unique needs of each patient with the aim to improve surgical outcomes. This Research Coordinator will be an integral part of the team collecting implementation and qualitative data, moderating PAUSE Board meetings, acting as the primary liaison with VA Providers providing feedback about the efficacy of this intervention, conducting comprehensive geriatric assessments (training provided, as needed), and co-authoring manuscripts for publication (if desired). Preference is given to applicants with prior research experience. US citizenship is required.

The Research Coordinator will be supervised by the PI, Dr. Shipra Arya, VA Palo Alto Vascular Surgery Section Chief. The Research Coordinator will assist with the overall progress of the implementation study, including but not limited to:

• Coordinating PAUSE Board meetings with multidisciplinary team of VA Providers and document recommendations in patients’ medical records (i.e.,“Multidisciplinary PAUSE Board note”)
• Maintaining a log of feedback on PAUSE Trial implementation from emails, calls, texts, responses to weekly audit and feedback reports and clinical notes that will be reviewed to identify barriers and facilitators in the context of project domains.
• Assisting the onboarding of surgical specialties and training to administer standardized frailty screenings in clinic per protocol, attending biweekly specialty team meetings, and recording notes from these trainings and meetings.
• Organizing formative evaluation components, pre-implementation preparation, and planning the training schedules for the PAUSE Trial.
• Distributing the Information Sheet to VA Providers prior to participation in study procedures as part of the informed consent process in addition to recording audio during PAUSE Board meetings and taking detailed notes of the discussions.
• Completing the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment under direction from Geriatric Providers in-person or over tele-video conference.
• Reviewing medical records to identify areas where clinical outcomes may be improved with novel or evidence-based programs and screen patients for ongoing studies, develop implementation manuals, and implement and administer cohesive screening logs and assessment / evaluation batteries.
• Supporting Site PI during site visits with PAUSE Board focus groups and interviews with surgery chief, surgery section chiefs and VA surgical Providers referring patients to the PAUSE Board.
• Attending monthly research team calls.
• Monitoring and documenting surgical specialty clinical and workflow processes.
• Destroying study data (including audio/tele-video recordings) as stipulated under item number 8300.6 in the RCS 10-1 (i.e., according to VA policy) at the end of the research study.
• Performing other related duties as assigned.

Position requires attention to detail, ability to work with multiple disciplines and communicate effectively across staff and study members. This position could be a good fit for a recent graduate (Masters or Bachelors with research experience) or for an ABD/near-ABD graduate student looking for a part-time position.