STFM AND THE STFM FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE THE 2008 GROUP PROJECT FUND WINNERS

PROJECT: ADOLESCENT HEALTH FOR PRIMARY CARE: DEVELOPMENT OF A WEB-BASED, COMPREHENSIVE, COMPETENCY-BASED CURRICULUM

The project will: 1) develop, implement, and evaluate a curricular instruction plan; 2) develop, implement, and maintain a peer-reviewed database of adolescent-related teaching resources through a link to STFM’s Family Medicine Digital Resources Library; and 3) house the curriculum on the Web to maximize access.

STFM Group: Adolescent Health—Francesco Leanza, MD, Beth Israel Residency Program in Urban Family Health, New York, NY, principal investigator

Award: $10,000 over 2 years

PROJECT: OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO WRITING FOR FAMILY MEDICINE EDUCATORS

This project will conduct 4 writing workshops open to STFM members, particularly junior, women, Hispanic, and minority faculty designed to support minority faculty, enhance their ability to recruit others to the field, and build capacity for research through strengthening writing ability.

STFM Group: Minority and Multicultural Health—Lucy Candib, MD, Family Health Center of Worcester, Worcester, Mass, principal investigator

Award: $10,000 over 2 years

PROJECT: TEACHING E-MAIL COMMUNICATION IN A RESIDENCY PROGRAM

This project will develop a curriculum to teach residents how best to communicate via e-mail with patients while guarding patient confidentiality, safety, and imparting appropriate information in a suitable time to the correct recipient.

STFM Group: Information Technology—Heather Paladine, MD, University of Southern California Family Medicine Residency, principal investigator

Award: $4,780 over 2 years

PROJECT: OUTGOING THIRD-YEAR FAMILY MEDICINE RESIDENT SATISFACTION

This project will create and offer to all US and Canadian family medicine residency programs a confidential, objective, self-report questionnaire that will be administered online to graduating third-year residents as a part of the exit interview process.

STFM Group: Behavioral Science—Timothy Spruill, EdD, Florida Hospital East Orlando, Orlando, Fla, principal investigator

Award: $5,000 over 2 years

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Any recognized, active STFM Group with an idea for a collaborative educational project that is related to its group’s goals can request Group Project funds by submitting a completed Group Project Fund Application Form to STFM. STFM will send a request for proposals annually via e-mail to STFM Group Chairs in October.

PROPOSAL CONTENT

Projects must relate directly to family medicine education (eg, teaching, curriculum development, evaluation, faculty development) and produce measurable outcomes. Projects may focus on patients, medical students in family medicine settings, or family medicine residents, fellows, faculty, and educators/administrators.

FUNDING DETAILS

Projects are funded for a maximum of 2 years, and funding is not renewable. Funds may be budgeted in the categories below. Indirect costs are not provided.

• Required equipment (eg, a laptop computer) and supplies (eg, photocopying).

• Travel (eg, funds to present project outcomes at STFM meetings and/or attend project team meetings)

• Personnel (eg, to purchase a statistical consultant’s time). Funds for faculty and/or staff release time must be contributed “in-kind” by departments/programs.

A project may be funded for 1 or 2 years at one of 2 levels:

1. Full Funding: A few proposals of exceptional quality and potential impact may be funded up to $10,000 total.

2. Seed Money: to support projects up to $5,000 total.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

The STFM Board’s Executive Committee will administer the Group Project Fund and oversee the assessment of submitted proposals for funding.

For more information about the STFM Group Project Fund or to donate to the STFM Foundation to help support projects like those listed here, visit http://www.stfm.org/foundation.