STFM NEW PARTNERS INITIATIVE: A PRODUCTIVE FIRST YEAR!

The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) established the New Partners Initiative (NPI) as a way to develop the people and mechanisms to enhance the long-term support and viability of family medicine programs. By emphasizing the importance of building relationships and identifying mutual interests with private, public, governmental, and foundation partners, the NPI is intended to help STFM lead academic family medicine in recognizing the need for combining financial development and sustainability with program quality and success. Ultimately important is the outcome of optimistic attitudes, ownership, and skills among family medicine organizations, faculty, and administration who appreciate the issues of long-term support for our efforts and understand how to incorporate the financial aspects at the forefront of planning.

The NPI is composed of 3 parts: the New Partners Think Tank, which provides overall guidance and direction for the project; the New Partners Academic Fund-raising Fellowship (AFF), which offers workshops, seminars, and a year-long tutorial program; and a New Partners Task Force, which will be introduced during the 2006–2007 academic year.

During the first year, the Think Tank outlined the structure and emphasis for the program. There were 2 Academic Fund-raising Fellowship Workshops, one in Indianapolis (December 2005) and the other in San Francisco (April 2006). The AFF attracted a total of 62 participants who attended the 2-day offerings and received guidance in topics such as understanding philanthropy, creating funding magnets, identifying funders, network building, managing organizational issues, and writing proposals, among others.

In addition, AFF and Think Tank faculty presented special sessions at the STFM Annual Spring Conference in San Francisco, titled “The Academic Fund-Raising Project” and a “Discussion Forum on the New Partners Initiative,” which attracted approximately 100 attendees, combined. These sessions focused on the process of the fellowship, the need for fund-raising, and small-group discussions of participants’ skills and needs regarding academic fund-raising. Five program fellows, involved in the year-long tutorial, also presented on their work and growth.

Michael Rosenthal, MD, Thomas Jefferson University, and Bill Mygdal, EdD, Fort Collins Family Medicine Residency, Fort Collins Colo, serve as cochairs of the NPI Think Tank. Other members include Macaran Baird, MD, MS, University of Minnesota; Larry Bauer, MSW, MEd, Family Medicine Education Consortium, Dayton, Ohio; Stephen Bogdewic, PhD, Indiana University; Roland Goertz, MD, McLennan County Family Practice, Waco, Tex; William Hueston, MD, Medical University of South Carolina; Susan Kaye, MD, Atlantic Health System/Overlook Hospital FPR, Summit, NJ; David Lanier, MD, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Evelyn Lewis & Clark, MD, MA, Pfizer, Bowie Md; Steven Schroeder, MD, University of California, San Francisco; and Roger Sherwood, CAE, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, Leawood, Kan.

Evaluations and reactions to the NPI and its programs to date have been overwhelmingly positive. Fund-raising workshop attendees and fellowship participants have felt that the programs provide instruction and build confidence in areas that have been needed but are not incorporated in faculty or career development. In increasingly difficult budgetary times, the NPI offers the opportunity to develop the skills, approaches, and strategies that will be needed for program funding and success. As the NPI presents new offerings during the coming year, STFM encourages its members to bring a willingness to grow and become part of this important investment in our future.

• © 2006 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.