Clinicians in Research

From the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, excerpts and paraphrases from a press release...

Study: Family Physicians Have Minimal Funding, Influence At NIH
Findings Have Broad Implications For Research, Public Health

Funding to departments of family medicine and family physicians is minimal at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study is the most comprehensive examination of family medicine’s interaction with the NIH. It finds that family medicine’s role in NIH-funded research is negligible at a time of growing emphasis on the role of primary-care research to translate the latest science into clinical practice and improve public health in the United States.

• The study looked at NIH grants from 2002-2006, and family medicine's membership on NIH advisory committees.

• The $187 million total in grants that family medicine received in 2006 represents just 0.20 percent of the $95.3 billion in total NIH awards during that year.

• The study examined NIH grant awards from 2002-2006, as well as family medicine’s membership on NIH advisory committees, which review research and set research agendas for NIH’s institutes and centers. More than half of all family medicine departments received no grants from NIH. And almost 75 percent of family medicine grants came from just six of NIH’s 24 grant-funding institutes and centers.

• Departments of family medicine had members on just 6.4 percent of all committees and subcommittees, making up less than 0.38 percent of all advisory committee members at the NIH.

The researchers call for:

• Practicing family physicians to serve in public seats on NIH advisory committees;

• NIH and family medicine to strengthen partnerships for advanced degrees and research training;

• Experienced family-medicine researchers to share research lessons with the larger family medicine community to foster participation in practice-based investigations and quality-improvement initiatives; and

• Family physicians in community practices to develop greater collaboration with practice-based research networks and academic health centers to help inform research, carry out clinical trials and develop new ideas for research.

“Through greater research training, collaborations, and self-advocacy, family medicine might foster a better relationship with the NIH, to the benefit of both,” the researchers conclude.

I agree with the push for clinicians to get involved in research-driven government organizations, such as the NIH, CDC, and FDA. I believe it would add an important perspective. For instance, my husband, who is in private practice infectious diseases, could contribute a lot about his practical experience to one of these agencies. But he's so afraid he "doesn't have the right background," because he didn't do any "research" after his fellowship. If he could overcome his fears, it would also give us a lot more flexibility in terms of relocation. ;-)