Gateway I :The Gateway to Scholarly Activity in Family Medicine (G-SAFM)
Application Deadline: February 8,2008 Application Form
Purpose:
The Gateway to Scholarly Activity in Family Medicine seeks to increase pre-clinical student awareness of opportunities for research in Family Medicine. By doing so, the program endeavors to demonstrate the educational and research potential of Family Medicine.
Goals
The goals of the G-SAFM program are as follows:
- To introduce pre-clinical medical students to Family Medicine research so that they better understand the potential for scholarly activity in this specialty.
- To promote scholarly activity within the UIUC-COM Department of Family Medicine.
- To develop faculty interest in the active pursuit of research activities.
- To help both students and faculty understand research resources available at UIUC and within the Champaign-Urbana community.
- To acknowledge the research done by Students and Faculty collaborations at the regional and national level.
Objectives
The objectives of the G-SAFM program are as follows:
- Through a systematic process, guide the medical student through the research process from developing the research question to the completion of the research project.
- Form a committee of Faculty interested in scholarly activity and its dissemination. This committee will act as the core of the G-SAFM program.
- Promote the collaboration of UIUC-COM PhD research faculty and Primary Care Physicians for future research activities.
- Nominate student participants for the annual North America Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) Student Research in Family Medicine Award.
Introduction
Traditional four-year medical schools do not always present an accurate picture of primary care research. As a result, many medical students view primary care as the simplistic application of routine procedures when in fact primary care requires complex differential diagnosis and careful referral. In addition, Family Medicine Physicians use the medical evidence to guide their process. The result is that medical students often do not perceive Family Medicine as a specialty capable of cogent and informative scholarship.
This early stereotyping of primary care inhibits the ability to recruit students who are interested in pursuing primary care research. Early introduction of scholarly activities in pre-clinical education can be a proactive, constructive way to introduce students to the complexity, challenges and excitement of primary care medicine. Through this research process, students have an opportunity to interact with patients and their providers and to therefore appreciate the scope and detail of primary care practice.
The Gateway to Scholarly Activity in Family Medicine (G-SAFM) seeks to introduce the pre-clinical medical student to primary care scholarship. Its main goal is to show the student of the full range of primary care research possibilities. This activity is available to first and second-year University of Illinois medical students wanting to participate in a summer-long research project in an outpatient office setting.
Methods
The application process begins with students submitting a letter of interest which also includes a research question. The research question must be relevant to patients typically seen in an outpatient setting. The question must be framed in terms of the published literature on the topic and sufficiently operationalized to allow for planning for data collection and analysis. Applicable to the program would be University of Illinois students who are not involved in the Medical Scholars Program.
The Committee will decide upon the best one or two research questions. The selected student(s) will then meet with two faculty members -- a Primary Care Physician and a PhD Researcher -- to further refine the question and develop the appropriate methodology. IRB paperwork and the research timetable is also started at this time.
The student is provided room and board (if needed) and a stipend for the research work done during the summer. The student acts as a Research Associate, gathering the qualitative or quantitative data as appropriate. The student is also required to keep a journal, logging his or her thoughts during the research process. Once the data gathering is complete, the student will work with the PhD Researcher to process the data and address the research questions. Using a standard research protocol, the student will write a paper for publication in a suitable journal. The student will also complete the portfolio and submit it to the Primary Care faculty member.
Resources:
1. "Why Family Medicine Research? A Superfluous Question"
2. FAQ about NAPCRG
