Learn How to improve the health of your community through research
The Community Oriented Research Curriculum is a free program designed for clinicians, medical students, resident physicians, and interdisciplinary professionals who want to learn practical research methods that improve healthcare. Together, we aim to make research accessible, collaborative, and impactful for clinicians across Arizona. Whether you are new to research or already leading projects, the curriculum provides tools, mentorship, and a collaborative environment to support your work. All are welcome!
The curriculum focuses on achieving the Quintuple Aim:
- Better health outcomes
- Lower healthcare costs
- Improved patient experience
- Improved provider experience
- Reduced health disparities
Through a collaborative learning environment, participants develop the skills needed to design and implement community-oriented research and quality improvement projects that meaningfully improve care for the communities we serve.
Who Should Participate
The program is not limited to those affiliated with the University of Arizona. If you are part of one of the following groups, please join us:
- Family Medicine faculty at any Arizona institution
- Family Medicine Residents at any Arizona residency program
- Medical students at any Arizona medical school
- Family Medicine Fellows
- Interdisciplinary healthcare team members working in Family Medicine (nurses, behavioral health specialists, public health professionals, pharmacists, administrators, and others)
- Patient partners and community members interested in getting involved in patient-centered outcomes and community-oriented research
Program Structure
Over the course of a year, participants meet weekly on Thursdays to learn research methods. We encourage those participating in the COR curriculum to also join Research Affinity Groups to get involved in new research projects and grants in their areas of interest (see schedule). You do not have to join every session, but can come as you are able.
Seminars: 30 minute seminars on key topics in community oriented research
- Every other Thursday 12:30–1:30 PM (Online)
Work in Progress Sessions: Work in Progress sessions allow participants to receive mentorship and feedback on their research projects. During these sessions, participants may present early ideas, study designs, preliminary results, or manuscripts in development to experienced research faculty for supportive feedback. The sign up link for these sessions will be distributed in our email list.
- Thursdays 1:30–2:30 PM
- Fridays 2:00–3:00 PM
Stay Connected
The best way to stay informed about:
- Upcoming research curriculum sessions
- Research Affinity Group meetings
- Work in Progress presentations
- New collaboration opportunities
is to join our mailing list.
Sign up for our mailing list to receive updates and session invitations.
Community Oriented Research Methods - Learn How to achieve the Quintuple Aim
Thursdays 12:30-1:30 (Virtual Lectures/Affinity Groups) Thursdays 1:30-2:30 (Work in Progress), Fridays 2-3 (Work in Progress)
| Lecture Number Affinity Group | Lecture/ Affinity Group Date | Topic | Discussion Lead | Deliverables for Community Oriented Research Curriculum | Work in Progress Fridays 2-3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2/19/2026 | Introduction to Community Oriented Research | Dr. Spielberg | 2/20/2026 | |
| Affinity Group 1 | 2/26/2026 | Primary Care Education and Workforce Development | Dr. Carsonis | 2/27/2026 | |
| 2 | 3/5/2026 | Introduction to Research Methods and Terminology | Dr. Hillier | 3/6/2026 | |
| Affinity Group 2 | 3/12/2026 | Community and Population Health | Dr. Bhalla | 3/13/2026 | |
| 3 | 3/19/2026 | Defining and characterizing the community/ Community Asset mapping | Dr. Spielberg | Community Characterization and Community Asset Map | 3/20/2026 |
| Affinity Group 3 | 3/26/2026 | Primary Care Innovation | Dr. Stephenson | 3/27/2026 | |
| 4 | 4/2/2026 | Literature Reviews - Assessing the quality of the literature for effective interventions and writing a | Dr. Hillier / Spielberg | Scoping Literature Review | 4/3/2026 |
| Affinity Group 4 | 4/9/2026 | Behavioral Health and Substance Use | Dr. Touch Mercer | 4/10/2026 | |
| 5 | 4/16/2026 | Intro to Qualitative Research - Informal Patient and Stakeholder Interviews (H-Corp) | Dr. Hillier/Dr. Spielberg | Qualitative data summary | 4/17/2026 |
| Affinity Group 5 | 4/23/2026 | Technology and Innovation | Dr. Arrend | 4/24/2026 | |
| 6 | 4/30/2026 | Detailed Assessments - Surveys of patients and | Dr. Hillier | Survey design paper | 5/1/2026 |
| Affinity Group 6 | 5/7/2026 | Practice Improvement | Dr. Espinosa | 5/8/2026 | |
| 7 | 5/14/2026 | Intro to RedCap Programming for COR1 - Survey design | Nikki/Jeanette Priefert | Survey design RedCap | 5/15/2026 |
| Affinity Group 1 | 5/21/2026 | Primary Care Education and Workforce Development | Dr. Carsonis | 5/22/2026 | |
| 8 | 5/28/2026 | Intro to RedCap Programming for COR2 - Survey reports | Nikki/Jeanette Priefert | Survey reports RedCap | 5/29/2026 |
| Affinity Group 2 | 6/4/2026 | Community and Population Health | Dr. Bhalla | 6/5/2026 | |
| 9 | 6/11/2026 | Workflow analysis and redesign | Dr. Spielberg | workflow analysis | 6/12/2026 |
| 6/18/2026 | Holiday | 6/19/2026 | |||
| 10 | 6/25/2026 | Intervention prioritization process | Dr. Spielberg | Intervention prioritization table | 6/26/2026 |
| 7/2/2026 | Holiday | 7/3/2026 | |||
| 11 | 7/9/2026 | Specific Aims | Dr. Garcia-Fillion | Specific Aims | 7/10/2026 |
| Affinity Group 3 | 7/16/2026 | Primary Care Innovation | Dr. Stephenson | 7/17/2026 | |
| 12 | 7/23/2026 | Designing a Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) QI/research | Dr. Spielberg | PDSA proposal | 7/24/2026 |
| Affinity Group 4 | 7/30/2026 | Behavioral Health and Substance Use | Dr. Touch Mercer | 7/31/2026 | |
| 13 | 8/6/2026 | AI and Digital Tools in Community Oriented Research | Dr. Spielberg | Design of AI/digital tool | 8/7/2026 |
| Affinity Group 5 | 8/13/2026 | Technology and Innovation | Dr. Arrend | 8/14/2026 | |
| 14 | 8/20/2026 | Introduction to Quantitative Analysis | Dr. Garcia-Fillion | Survey Analysis | 8/21/2026 |
| Affinity Group 6 | 8/27/2026 | Practice Improvement | Dr. Espinosa | 8/28/2026 | |
| 15 | 9/3/2026 | Return on investment analysis and Health Economics | Dr. Spielberg/Dr. Hillier | ROI analysis | 9/4/2026 |
| Affinity Group 1 | 9/10/2026 | Primary Care Education and Workforce Development | Dr. Carsonis | 9/11/2026 | |
| 16 | 9/17/2026 | Sample size, power calculations | Dr. Garcia-Fillion | Sample size, power calculations | 9/18/2026 |
| Affinity Group 2 | 9/24/2026 | Community and Population Health | Dr. Bhalla | 9/25/2026 | |
| 17 | 10/1/2026 | Analysis Plan | Dr. Garcia-Fillion | Protocol/Manual of Operations | 10/2/2026 |
| Affinity Group 3 | 10/8/2026 | Primary Care Innovation | Dr. Stephenson | 10/9/2026 | |
| 18 | 10/15/2026 | Submitting an IRB application (Exempt, Expedited, Full | Dr. Hillier | IRB application | 10/16/2026 |
| Affinity Group 4 | 10/22/2026 | Behavioral Health and Substance Use | Dr. Touch Mercer | 10/23/2026 | |
| 19 | 10/29/2026 | Introduction to manuscript writing for scientific publications, the publication process | Dr. Hillier | Select targeted journal | 10/30/2026 |
| Affinity Group 5 | 11/5/2026 | Technology and Innovation | Dr. Arrend | 11/6/2026 | |
| 20 | 11/12/2026 | Preparing effective figures, tables and photographs | Dr. Spielberg | Tables, figures and photographs | 11/13/2026 |
| Affinity Group 6 | 11/19/2026 | Practice Improvement | Dr. Espinosa | 11/20/2026 | |
| 11/26/2026 | Holiday | 11/27/2026 | |||
| Affinity Group 1 | 12/3/2026 | Primary Care Education and Workforce Development | Dr. Carsonis | 12/4/2026 | |
| 21 | 12/10/2026 | Writing the title, authors, background, methods, results, and abstract sections | Dr. Hillier, Dr. Spielberg | title, authors, background, methods, results, and abstract sections | 12/11/2026 |
| Affinity Group 2 | 12/17/2026 | Community and Population Health | Dr. Bhalla | 12/18/2026 | |
| 12/24/2026 | Holiday | Holiday | Holiday | 12/25/2026 | |
| 12/31/2026 | Holiday | Holiday | Holiday | 1/1/2027 | |
| 22 | 1/7/2027 | Preparing presentations and posters | Dr. Hillier | Presentation and Poster, submit | 1/8/2027 |
| Affinity Group 3 | 1/14/2027 | Primary Care Innovation | Dr. Stephenson | 1/15/2027 | |
| 23 | 1/21/2027 | Writing the discussion, and strength and limitations section | Dr. Spielberg | Discussion section, stengths and limitations sections | 1/22/2027 |
| Affinity Group 4 | 1/28/2027 | Behavioral Health and Substance Use | Dr. Touch Mercer | 1/29/2027 | |
| Presentations | 2/4/2027 | Presentations | Dr. Hillier | Oral and Poster presentations | 2/5/2027 |
| Affinity Group 5 | 2/11/2027 | Technology and Innovation | Dr. Arrend | 2/12/2027 | |
| Presentations | 2/18/2027 | Presentations | Dr. Spielberg | Oral and Poster presentations | 2/19/2027 |
| Affinity Group 6 | 2/25/2027 | Practice Improvement | Dr. Espinosa | 2/26/2027 |