Science

Translational Research and Clinical Practice: Basic Tools for Medical Decision Making and Self-Learning

by Stephen C. Aronoff.
(c) 2011.

This book was a review – and to some degree, an extension – of medical school for me. I always enjoyed reviewing the medical literature. In fact, it was my favorite part of my medical training and the part I miss the most. I love translating research into clinical advice.

Unfortunately, fortune had it that the clinic was not to be my domain, so I sit in the research realm now. I am helping others produce research that translates research into clinically relevant information. Or perhaps more succinctly, I have become a lab rat. I spend my weekends learning esoteric computer languages with the hope of making a small dent in the realm of biomedical research.

I picked up this book because it used the term “Translational Research” in the title. When my colleagues use the term “Translational Research,” they mean research that helps the bench-to-bedside transition, generally starting at the bench. We are pushing research out efficiently to be consumed. Aronoff does not mean this. Instead, he is gazing from the clinic and pulling research through translation to patients. His view of self-education is the way to do it. Self-education essentially consists of reflecting on patients through controlled searches in the medical literature. That is the goal of evidence-based medicine, and Aronoff seems to have mastered its presentation.

He suggests only a little time (around 20% of total self-education time) being spent reading seminal journals or garnering CME credits. 80% of a physician’s self-education time should be spent in pericopes on patient experiences. This will enable her to converse more openly and reason more completely with patients.

Interestingly, Aronoff suggests that a physician not read the discussion on the papers as that is wasted time. Instead, systematically interrogate papers through questions about clinical relevance. That, in essence, is his method.

This deep-dive into the clinical domain of the relevance of translational research has been enjoyable. One can spend their whole career doing the concepts taught in this book and using it as a lens to explore the world through. It’s a privilege to study methodology that others use routinely.