Member Newsletter

NAPCRG News is an electronic member newsletter published several times throughout year.

September 2023 Newsletter

President's Message

The Inaugural Research Summit

To further integrate family medicine/primary care research into clinical practice, NAPCRG and the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM) in the U.S. hosted a Research Summit on October 30 just prior to the 51st Annual Meeting of NAPCRG in San Francisco (U.S.). This Research Summit was supported by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Foundation’s Family Medicine NEXT Initiative.

Approximately 140 people were invited to attend and participate in one of the Recommended Strategic Priorities Work Groups. The Recommended Strategic Priorities were: Pathways / Mentorship with the goal being to grow the family medicine research workforce by expanding pathways and strengthening mentorship; Funding & Advocacy with the goal being to increase funding for family medicine research and advocate for enhanced health policy and support; and, Infrastructure with the goal being to build a national infrastructure for organizing and optimizing family medicine research opportunities.

The questions deliberated in the Pathways/Mentorship Group were:

How do we help position ‘trainees’/providers to conduct meaningful research, including in quality improvement (particularly as an entry point), that contributed to the evidence base?
What does the ‘culture of curiosity’ look like when running well? [leads to: building success in research]
How do you link your daily practice of seeing patients to this ‘culture of curiosity’ and ‘research’? How to capture your questions as they occur throughout your clinical sessions?

The question deliberated in the Funding & Advocacy Group was:

How do we align advocacy efforts with the 2021 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Report and forthcoming Action Plan to build momentum and increase support for family medicine research, including the creation of an Office of Primary Care Research.

The questions deliberated in the Infrastructure Group were:

There are a number of unique family medicine centric research methodologies that exist. How and why do these methodologies create challenges for family medicine/primary care researchers and yet they are the best for the patients?
Given this information, what would you do first to mitigate the challenges?

Currently, the information gleaned at the Summit has not yet been analyzed; however, the Executive Committee and the Board of NAPCRG will keep you informed as this moves forward. The complete strategic plan can be found here.

If you are interested in participating in any aspect of this work going forward, do not hesitate to contact Dr. Tom Vansaghi, Executive Director, for further information.

Prepared by Dr. Richelle Koopman, MD, MS (President); and Dr. Vivian R Ramsden, RN, PhD, MCFP (Hon.), FCAHS (Immediate Past President)

November 26, 2023

Meetings and Events

Recognizing the International Plenary Sessions from the Annual Meeting
Each year at the Annual Meeting, NAPCRG invites the winners of three of our associated organizations to present at the International Plenary session. This year we were pleased to welcome the following presenters:

Dr. Carla Bernardo, Australasian Association for Academic Primary Care (AAAPC), for her presentation: _____
Dr. Jennifer Newbould, Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC), for her presentation “Digital Facilitation in Primary Care, a Focused Ethnographic Study of the Experiences of Staff, Patients and Stakeholders.”
Dr. Elisabeth Liesbeth AB, Dutch College of General Practice, for her presentation “High Rates of Anorectal Chlamydia in Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in General Practice.”

2023 Annual Meeting Virtual Pass
You can now access the 2023 Annual Meeting Virtual Pass on demand, on your schedule. With the purchase of a Virtual Pass registration, you can access the general sessions, hours of pre-recorded conference sessions and the virtual poster hall. Your access to this content will last through January 15, 2024.

Save the Date for PBRN 2024

Mark your calendars for the annual Practice-based Research Network (PBRN) Conference, which will take place June 17-18, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency in Reston, Virginia (U.S). The Call for Papers opens soon, so watch your in-box for more information!

NEW: The Call for Papers is open now!

Mark your Calendars for the 52nd Annual Meeting

You won’t want to miss the 2024 Annual Meeting in Québec City, Canada! November 20-24, 2024.

Opportunities to Engage:
Research, Scholarship, Leadership

PaCE Tea-Time Chat #2

Thank you to everyone who attended our second PaCE Tea-Time Chat on Nov. 15! We were pleased to have Dr. Emily Godfrey, a family physician and researcher, and Ms. Molly Pam, a patient with cystic fibrosis, talk about two tools they created to help with primary care research.

Those tools are now available through the PCORI Engagement Tool and Resource Repository: Best Practices User Guide for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Teams Engaging Online and Patient-centered Outcomes Research Training Manual: Helping Researchers Initiate and Maintain Patient-Engaged Research Teams.

And don’t miss our third PaCE Tea Time Chat, Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, 11 a.m. ET / Noon CT / 1 p.m. MT / 2 p.m. PT. We hope to see you there!

CASFM Medical Education Session with Dr. Michael Epstein

NAPCRG's CASFM (Committee on Advancing the Science of Family Medicine) will host an online discussion with Dr. Michael Epstein, PhD, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Dr. Epstein will share his insights and expertise in the field of medical education. The free session will take place Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, 11 a.m. CST.

Dr. Epstein, who is also the co-founder and managing director of the University of Saskatchewan Centre for Integrative Medicine, holds a background in Decision Science, Organizational Behavior and Information Systems from MIT. Known for educational reform in medical education, Dr. Epstein's work has played a pivotal role in implementing innovative changes in medical education at both the national and local levels, notably pioneering the use of vertical theme integration to expedite curriculum reforms in undergraduate medical education.

During this meeting, he will provide an overview of vertical theme architecture as a strategy for integrating complementary medicine into the undergraduate curriculum. Strategies, benefits, challenges, and potential transformational outcomes will be outlined based on his experience over the past 21 years.

The presentation will also highlight the role of multiple, mutually reinforcing, synergistic complementary innovations, in catalyzing and accelerating the process of evolution in medical education.

Board of Director and Committees Call for Nominations opening soon

Please watch your in-box for information about the upcoming call for nominations. Nominate yourself or a colleague to serve on the NAPCRG board of directors or on a NAPCRG committee. Volunteers are the lifeblood of NAPCRG and play a critical role in shaping NAPCRG’s future.

TUTOR-PHC Call for Applications is Open

TUTOR-PHC is accepting applications for the 2024-2025 program. It is open to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, mid-career clinicians, and decision makers in primary health care. Applications are due by Monday, Dec. 4, 2023.

What is the program?
TUTOR-PHC, or Transdisciplinary Understandings and Training on Research – Primary Health Care, is a one-year, pan-Canadian interdisciplinary research capacity building program that has been training primary health care researchers and decision-makers from family medicine, nursing, psychology, epidemiology, social work, occupational therapy, education, policy and many other disciplines since 2003.

Why apply?

Primary health care research training
Valuable feedback on your own primary health care research
Mentorship from experienced interdisciplinary primary health care researchers and decision-makers
Interdisciplinary team experience

Program fees
Each trainee will be responsible for a $3,000 CND (plus appl tax) program fee, which includes accommodation / travel to the symposium.

For more information, please go to the website at: https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/tutorphc/

Please contact Project Coordinator Priya Garg (tutor@uwo.ca) if you are interested in applying.

Other News

NAPCRG Hosts First National Family Medicine Research Summit

NAPCRG was proud to host the National Family Medicine Research Summit during the Annual Meeting, bringing together more than 140 distinguished experts who are dedicated to expanding the horizons of family medicine research.

At the heart of this event, led by Summit Chair Dr. Irfan Asif, was the collaborative creation of a strategic research plan aimed at revolutionizing the field. The summit embraced innovative approaches, utilizing liberating structures to engage participants fully. This collaborative approach resulted in the development and prioritization of action steps aligned with the objectives outlined in the strategic plan.

The strategic planning process undertaken by these Family Medicine leaders has crafted a vision for research that is whole-person, family, and community centered and improves health by enhancing health promotion, improving care for chronic diseases and advancing healthcare delivery, while including cross-cutting themes of health equity, technology, and team science.

The blueprint for this vision involves three key strategic priorities:

Pathways and Mentorship Programming: Creating a robust system to mentor and guide emerging researchers in family medicine.
Funding and Advocacy Efforts: Ensuring sufficient resources and support for groundbreaking research in the field.
Infrastructure Development: Building the necessary infrastructure to facilitate cutting-edge research initiatives.

The complete strategic plan can be found here. Additionally, a concise summary of key action steps and communication strategies that will be shared in the coming weeks.

Career and Training Opportunities

Career Opportunities: Open Positions

Family Medicine Physician - Mayo Clinic Department of Family Medicine
The Department of Family Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, invites board-certified or board-eligible Family Physicians to apply for a full-time position. Learn more…

Founding Executive Director - Jefferson Primary Care Research Center, Thomas Jefferson University
The Jefferson Primary Care Research Center at Thomas Jefferson University seeks an experienced primary care researcher as its inaugural Executive Director. Learn more…

Tenure Track Research Faculty - University of Michigan School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine
The University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine seeks to recruit a research faculty member. Candidates should have an M.D., D.O., or equivalent, and the training and experience to be successful in a research-intensive environment. Learn more…

Health Equity Investigators - University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine (HSOM) is recruiting up to 12 investigators as part of a major strategic initiative in Health Equity to expand an already strong portfolio across basic and translational research, outcomes and population health science. Learn more…

Family Medicine - Faculty Physician Researcher - University of North Carolina School of Medicine
The Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina is well-poised to meet the call for more primary care research, as our nation restructures health care to improve the health of our population. Learn more…

Job seekers can view positions by clicking on links to find additional information or apply. More information is available for institutions interested in advertising available positions to our members.