STFM OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCHOLARLY ACTIVITY

Abstract

New requirements by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) underscore the importance of clinical inquiry and scholarship in medical education: “The faculty of a medical school demonstrate a commitment to continuing scholarly productivity that is characteristic of an institution of higher learning.”1—LCME “A medical education program is conducted in an environment that fosters the intellectual challenge and spirit of inquiry appropriate to a community of scholars and provides sufficient opportunities, encouragement, and support for medical student participation in research and other scholarly activities of its faculty.”1—LCME “The faculty must establish and maintain an environment of inquiry and scholarship with an active research component.”2—ACGME “The sponsoring institution and program should allocate adequate educational resources to facilitate resident involvement in scholarly activities.”2—ACGME ACGME defines scholarly activity as work that contributes to knowledge available to the discipline of family medicine and/or its subspecialty fellowship areas. The knowledge must be shared with peers and subject to peer review. Faculty members must document 2 scholarly activities every 5 years; residents must document 1 by the end of their residency.3 STFM has ramped up opportunities for the academic family medicine community to advance scholarship through the following initiatives: Family Medicine—Submissions continue to rise for STFM’s flagship journal, which has been sharing educational research for more than 30 years. Recent changes include full text, online searchable journals. Additional pages have also been added to the journal, allowing for the publication of approximately 1 more Original Article per issue. Annals of Family Medicine—STFM is the third largest financial contributor to this peer-reviewed research journal for scientists, clinicians, policy makers, and the patients and communities they serve. The journal is dedicated to advancing knowledge essential to understanding and improving health and primary care. CAFM Educational Research Alliance (CERA)—CERA was developed specifically to increase the quality and frequency of research and scholarly activity among members of CAFM organizations. It has done exactly that. Since the initiative launched in late 2011, the research has been disseminated through 16 peer-reviewed papers and 30 presentations. The data are available for secondary research by CAFM organizations. STFM Conferences—The Annual Spring Conference, Conference on Medical Student Education, and Conference on Practice Improvement offer hundreds of opportunities for the sharing of scholarly work by faculty, fellows, residents, and students. Residency Accreditation Toolkit—This new online resource provides the background, tools, and training to help residency programs meet the requirements of the ACGME’s Next Accreditation System. The toolkit has a section on scholarly activity that includes tips on how to get started and a list of sample scholarly activities. STFM Resource Library (fmdrl.org)—Look for enhancements to this widely used repository in 2015, including expanded opportunities for scholarship. Family Medicine Residency Curriculum Resource—The Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors and STFM are in the midst of a multiyear collaborative to build an online repository of competency-based curriculum, organized by postgraduate year. Submitted curriculum is peer reviewed, which means it meets the guidelines for scholarly activity. Submissions are still being accepted. Grant Generating Project—STFM is 1 of 3 financial partners in the Grant Generating Project, a fellowship that equips family medicine researchers with the skills they need to successfully develop and submit grants for research funding. Within the strategies of the Family Medicine for America’s Health Initiative is the expectation that family medicine will continuously improve the health and quality of care of patients. This can only be achieved by consistently integrating new knowledge into clinical practice and teaching. Creating and nurturing an environment of inquiry and scholarship in medical schools and residency programs ultimately benefits faculty, learners, and patients.