50 Years of NAPCRG: A Nurturing Home for Primary Care Researchers

Nurturing

This is one of the most ubiquitous words brought forth by members to describe the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG). People at NAPCRG’s Annual Meetings often recount a common story about the joy they felt upon attending their first meeting and finding “their people.” They share the familiar feeling of returning yearly to an electric atmosphere, full of enthusiasm, and feel recharged and motivated to develop solutions in primary care research and practice moving forward.

Home

The culture of inquiry and compassion at NAPCRG creates a warm, friendly environment where budding researchers can take root and be cultivated into the scientist they wish to become. This was true when founded in 1972 and is one of the most enduring sentiments over the 50-year history of the organization. As we reflect on the last half century of homecomings, we turn an eye toward the future.

Presently, NAPCRG’s trainee committee is a group of international trainees, with diverse academic backgrounds from academic family medicine to computer science or health services research, all with a shared passion for primary care research and who now call NAPCRG their academic home. Many of us on the trainee committee were introduced to NAPCRG by a mentor or peer with a profound love for NAPCRG and a strong passion for improving the health of individuals, families, and communities around the world. We share this passion with others at the trainee pre-conference, held annually the day before NAPCRG’s meeting.

Most of our first impressions of NAPCRG were developed at the trainee pre-conference. Those first impressions were built from experiencing a strong community of peers and mentors who come together to support one another. The trainee pre-conference started as an idea, brought forth by the supporting staff and made reality through sheer excitement. This pre-conference has blossomed into a vibrant gathering of the future leaders of NAPCRG. For many of us the NAPCRG trainee pre-conference has been a bridge to a community where new primary care researchers have formed close academic connections, mentors, and friends. We cannot help but feel the magnetic pull of returning year over year as we grow from mentee to mentor. It was from the fertile soil of the pre-conference that NAPCRG’s Trainee Committee was formed, petitioning the Board for a permanent banding together of trainees. We continue to come back to NAPCRG for its nurturing community of peers, leaders, and patients who all participate in the field of primary care research and inspire us to be the best researchers we can be.

As an emerging cohort of primary care researchers and NAPCRG members, it is imperative that we thoughtfully consider the future of NAPCRG, while reflecting on 50 years of momentum, growth, and leadership. Whilst embracing the NAPCRG heritage and ethos, we see its future as an ever-evolving space of nurturing, partnership, and inclusivity with a strengthened commitment to health equity and interdisciplinarity. We also recognize creative thinking and adaptability will be imperative. When the pandemic forced a stop to in-person events including the NAPCRG Annual Meeting, the Trainee Committee explored new opportunities to come together virtually several times a year for peer support, sharing research and experiences, and forming academic bonds outside our home institutions, and even countries. This is the NAPCRG of the future—diverse in thought, nationality, and background, yet united by a shared passion for accessible, equitable, and affordable health care.

Drawing on our previously published “call to action” (Chisholm et al, 2022), and continuing to offer virtual programming, we will strive for a more diverse and accessible membership base and outreach that fosters flexible and rigorous research methods necessary to tackle complex primary health care issues. We are committed to ensuring NAPCRG provides a network of support and mentorship that seeks innovative solutions to health disparities and primary care challenges, through a collective and diverse voice. To help reach these ambitious yet necessary goals, we will continue to advocate for the trainee voice and representation in NAPCRG leadership, while building capacity for an inclusive trainee network and community that is nurturing and feels like home. Inspired, energized, and resilient; the future of NAPCRG is bright.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of NAPCRG, we are proud to call this organization our home. We are grateful for how its members continuously give back and nurture the next generation of primary care researchers. We enjoyed seeing new and returning trainee members in person once again at our annual Rising Stars in Research pre-conference day in Phoenix, Arizona.