STFM AND THE STFM FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE THE 2009 GROUP PROJECT FUND WINNERS

THE 2009 GROUP PROJECT FUND WINNERS

PROJECT: Online Training in Dietary Supplements for Family Physicians

Many patients use dietary supplements, and physicians need evidence-based, up-to-date information on the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements. This project will develop, evaluate, and market online continuing medical education modules on dietary supplements and 3 chronic health conditions: heart disease, diabetes, and asthma. These modules will be maintained and updated at the Boston Medical Center Department of Family Medicine and housed on the Boston University (BU) Distance Education for Health Web site. CME credit will be through BU.

STFM Group: Integrative Medicine—Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH, Boston University Department of Family Medicine, principal investigator

Award: $9,745 over 2 years

PROJECT: Medical School Admission Policies and the Family Medicine Pipeline: Developing Practical Guidance Based on Analysis of Student Origins

Many state medical schools have increased their efforts to recruit and matriculate out-of-state medical students in the past decade, while they simultaneously have experienced decreased numbers of students matriculating into the specialty of family medicine. Practical information is lacking on the relationship between student origin and medical specialty choice. This project will address this deficiency by analyzing data from the 10-year period prior to 1997, which saw a growth in the number of US seniors entering family medicine, as well as the 10-year period after 1997 in which a decline occurred. The project is designed to alleviate potential unintended consequences of current policies of admissions committees and to empower administrators to make informed decisions that will benefit underserved rural populations by increasing the recruitment of physicians from rural areas.

STFM Group: Rural Health—Richard Pretorius, MD, MPH, SUNY Department of Family Medicine, Buffalo, NY, principal investigator

Award: $10,000 over 2 years

PROJECT: Current Trends in Medical Education in Identifying and Treating Patients Exposed to Domestic Violence

Residency Review Committee (RRC) guidelines state that each residency must have a structured curriculum in community medicine, including didactic and experiential components for the assessment of risks for abuse, neglect, and family and community violence along with a process to evaluate the curriculum and to document resident skill attainment. This project will survey family medicine departments with regard to the training of faculty, residents, and medical students in the assessment of these risks within the framework of ACGME and RRC guidelines. The results will characterize the field’s current focus, identifying systematic educational gaps in addition to deconstructing the components of innovative models that can be disseminated nationally.

STFM Group: Violence Education and Prevention—Peter Cronholm, MD, MSCE, University of Pennsylvania Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, principal investigator

Award: $4,000 for 1 year

Requests for proposals are sent annually via e-mail to STFM group chairs in September. Any recognized, active STFM Group may submit a proposal for funding. Proposals must be received in the STFM office by December 1.

In the 2009 funding cycle, the STFM Foundation was unable to fund several projects of merit due to limited funds. For more information about the STFM Group Project Fund or to donate to the STFM Foundation to help support projects like those listed above, visit http://www.stfm.org/fnd.