Coy M
- Research Program Mentor
MD at Wake Forest University
Expertise
Pediatric medicine, biology, chemistry, premed, nursing
Bio
I have spent many years studying and applying the life-sciences both as a medical student and physician. I have found that I am particularly excited and passionate about teaching and making the life-sciences accessible to students. My clinical experience helps me bring academic material to life by showing its important, real-world applications. My past teaching experience includes years of tutoring of college students, engaging in effective study groups during college, and in peer-/patient-education during medical school and pediatric residency, as well as clinical education of pediatric patients and their families in private practice. I have experience writing papers for professional presentations and academic publishing in areas ranging from end-of-life care, to nutrition, to rare immunological diseases. As a trained pediatrician, I am especially passionate about issues related to child development and wellbeing. Recently, I was proud to mentor and tutor a high school STEM student who went on to win national and international recognition for his original research. My personal interests include military history, science-fiction/fantasy books, and writing essays on contemporary biomedical topics. Every month or so my wife and I host a gathering of friends for a day of tabletop roleplaying games. When weather permits, I enjoy also taking my young son to the zoo or botanical gardens.Project ideas
Literature Review
Projects of this sort serve as an introduction to academic literature topic and help students develop the skills necessary to find and incorporate high-quality sources into subsequent research. Commonly, literature reviews include the reading and reporting on at least 30 academic publications. The highest quality literature reviews also categorize and synthesize current research findings and gaps and highlight areas for future research. By performing this literature review, students come to a deep understanding of the narrow topic covered by the review, and gain experience in interpreting and synthesizing data from various sources. Students will also gain experience formulating a paper in scholarly format. If the final product is of high quality, I can assist students in submitting it for publication by a high-school research journal. Exemplar topics include: Barriers to vaccine uptake, Interventions to reduce emotional trauma from vaccinations, Use of alternative and supplementary therapies to complement medical management of headaches, The changing prenatal age of viability, and so forth
Survey Research
Projects of this sort involve the creation, distribution, analysis, and interpretation of survey data. Surveys are typically used to identify how large numbers of variables correlate with each other, and to describe what is currently true of a given group of people. Students will learn how to find high-quality research resources, how to create a high-quality survey, collect at least 100 responses, code these responses, and will write up their results in scholarly format. If the final product is of high quality, I can assist students in submitting it for publication by a high-school research journal. Exemplar topics include: Patient perceptions of primary care encounters, Student perceptions of careers in STEM, Student attitudes toward mask mandates, Student priorities in their college search, and so forth
Qualitative Research
Projects of this sort would involve conducting and analyzing at least 5 in-depth interviews and/or 2 focus groups to explore in depth how individuals perceive the world around them. Qualitative research of this sort is often used to gain rich understanding of how a specific topic may be further investigated through quantitative research, and also is useful for developing theory, identifying hypotheses, and developing an understanding of topics in new ways. Students will learn how to formulate good interview questions, how to be a good interviewer, how to record and analyze qualitative data for themes, and how to write the results of a qualitative project in a scholarly manner. If the final product is of high quality, I can assist students in submitting it for publication by a high-school research journal Exemplar topics include: Patient experiences with long COVID, student experiences with bullying, student experiences with career counseling, student perceived benefits and drawbacks of a career in STEM, and so forth