Timeline, Development Activities, and Investments for Positioning a Family Medicine Department to Participate in Large-Scale Institutional Research Initiatives
| Timeline | Faculty Development | PBRN Development |
|---|---|---|
| PBRN = practice-based research network; NIH = National Institutes of Health; IRB = institutional review board. | ||
| Years 1–4 | Recruitment of initial cadre of faculty members with research training Initial development of research skills and working experience | Launch of network by a small group of enthusiastic practices |
| Small unfunded research projects | Basic information gathering, card studies | |
| Small research projects funded by grants covering less than full direct costs (pilot funds, institutional seed money) | Leadership and administrative support informally assigned and funded by university or state academy support | |
| Moderate grants from foundations and funding agencies with minimal to no indirect cost recovery | ||
| Support for faculty travel and attendance at national research meetings, developing contacts, and understanding research culture | ||
| Years 5–8 | Expansion of department research infrastructure, project management support, statistical and methodologic expertise | Substantial investment ($60,000 to $280,000/y) in dedicated personnel, space, travel for practice recruitment, and maintenance |
| Substantial external funding, larger foundation grants, smaller federal grants (eg, R03, R21 grants) | ||
| Recruitment of large numbers of practices with varying levels of participation | ||
| NIH investigator grants (eg, K grants) | ||
| Development of project management skills | Health services research studies and clinical trials | |
| Service on institutional committees (eg, IRB, practice guidelines committees) | Increasing size and sophistication of grants, with small amounts of network infrastructure support | |
| Years 9–12 | Large project and program grants (eg, R01 and P grants) | Multiple, externally funded concurrent studies |
| Service on study sections, national leadership positions | Increasing grant support for secretarial, financial, and administrative personnel | |
| National network of contacts | ||
| Continued support needed for network expansion and maintenance | ||
| Year 13 onward | Participant and leadership roles in major cross-departmental and institution-wide projects (eg, center grants) | |