Consultations

Overview

The Evans Center for Implementation & Improvement Sciences (CIIS) offers free consultations from experts in implementation science (IS). The goal of the consultation is to integrate rigorous implementation science principles and methods into research, quality improvement (QI), and efforts to integrate evidence-based practices into clinical care.  Our team has expertise in qualitative and quantitative methods, community engaged research, and conducting research in the safety net setting.

Potential topics for consults include:

  • Selection of IS framework
  • Feedback on study design and methods
  • Identification of implementation strategies for specific context
  • Selection of validated implementation outcomes
  • Guidance on conducting pre-implementation assessment
  • Best practices and tips for success for IS grant submission
  • Incorporation of IS principles into QI projects
  • Requests for IS expert as part of grant/project team
  • Requests for CIIS member to perform quantitative or qualitative component of grant or project

Eligibility

Consults are free of charge and available to all members of the BU/BUMC/BMC campuses, including students/trainees. Requests that require a CIIS team member to join the team may be associated with the need for funding support and will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Process

To request a consult, please fill out our Consult Request Form. This will collect basic information about your project and the content of the consult, including a brief description of the project, the nature of support requested, and timeline. If you have a draft grant/specific aims or manuscript, we ask that you share this ahead of time as well. Someone from the CIIS team will reach out to you within 1 week to schedule your consult.

We have designed a three-step consult process:

Step 1: Initial one hour meeting with consult team, which includes a CIIS faculty member, a CIIS fellow, and CIIS staff.  We will review you Consult Request Form, solicit any further information needed, and provide preliminary recommendations.

Step 2: Your consult will be discussed with the entire CIIS team (including senior leadership). These consensus recommendations are summarized in a written and cited document and sent to you for review.

Step 3: Meet with consult team again to review recommendations and determine next steps.

Timeline

We recommend submitting as early as possible in your project, but at least 6 weeks prior to grant submission or other deadline.

Evaluation

Consulters will be asked to complete feedback survey forms to improve the CIIS consult process.

Examples of Prior Consults

  • Input on Specific Aim related to implementation strategy for NIH application (requestor: Associate Professor BUMC campus)
  • Guidance on designing qualitative interview guide for capstone project (requestor: MPH student)
  • Selection of best-fit implementation science framework for KL2 application (requestor: Assistant Professor BUMC campus)
  • Input on plans to implement a new race-neutral equation into process for conducting and interpreting pulmonary function testing at BMC (requestor: BMC clinician)

We will reach out shortly to schedule a consultation time and to provide additional information once the form is submitted. If you have any questions please email ciisinfo@bu.edu.