Transforming an idea into a scholarly project.

OBJECTIVES: This article describes components of a workshop designed to orientate psychiatric trainees to the task of conducting a scholarly project. The aims are: to promote an approach that incorporates principles of adult learning to guide trainees who are undertaking research; to allow trainees to transform their ideas into more tangible research questions; and to enable supervisors to reflect on delivering similar content in scholarly project workshops.

METHODS: The workshop comprised: creating a safe space to explore ideas; discussing the process of posing a question or hypothesis; using group interactions to generate concepts; and considering personal values that influence the choice of research methodology to answer a question.

RESULTS: Examples are provided from the workshop. The process enabled trainees to generate and distil ideas into more concrete questions and methods in three phases: introductory, exploratory and tangible.

CONCLUSIONS: Adult learning principles may assist trainees to develop their ideas for a scholarly project into research questions that are relevant to clinical practice. Harnessing the creative potential of a peer collective may encourage deeper inquiry, shifts to a tangible output and a sustained interest in research.