FOUNDATION FOCUS

Building the Foundation of family medicine
A Report From the TAFP Foundation

By Kathy McCarthy

The TAFP Foundation is the charitable arm of family medicine in Texas. Funds raised are used to support the well-defined mission of supporting research and residents and encouraging medical students to choose family medicine. Over 87 percent of the annual budget of the TAFP Foundation directly supports these goals. Your donations are critical to our success.

RESEARCH

The family physician office is an immense and valuable laboratory for ambulatory medical research. What better place is there to advance practice-based research? Supporting networks and individual family doctors willing to participate in research studies will result in improved patient care and outcomes.

For the last 15 years, the Foundation has dedicated part of its annual budget to funding practice-based research. A few years ago, the foundation surpassed the $100,000 mark for research grants awarded and the Foundation Board of Trustees wondered what happened to those funded research studies. Were they shared with family physicians? Did they support the need for further research on a topic? Longtime TAFP Foundation Board member and chair of the Research Grants Committee, David A. Katerndahl, M.D., did some research to find out.

The research study topics have varied greatly. Studies were done on patient care such as, “A Non-written Intervention to Assist Low Literacy Patients With Understanding of Their Medical Regimens,” and “Diabetes Self Management.” Several studies have focused on training of physicians such as, “Ethics Education in Family Practice Residency Programs,” and “Evaluation of a Required Third-Year Family Practice Clerkship.” Some have dealt with social issues such as, “Relationship Between Spousal Abuse and Spirituality,” and “Child Sexual Abuse.”

Of the 26 studies that were completed, 16 investigators responded to Katerndahl’s inquiry. Of the 16 studies, 11 were published in Texas Family Physician. Katerndahl found that four studies were published in a total of seven other journals. The findings of 10 studies were presented at a total of 18 conferences and four studies received additional grant money to expand their research. Overall, 81 percent of the studies resulted in at least one outcome (grant, publication or presentation). Additionally, there were 12 publications and three grant applications pending at the time of the survey. These outcomes suggest that the research that TAFP Foundation funds are quality projects that enhance family physicians’ knowledge. This research is important and needs continued funding.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Promoting and fostering interest in family medicine among our bright young men and women in medical schools is essential to the future of our specialty. One of the most successful efforts of the Foundation has been the establishment and funding of student scholarships. These scholarships help ease the tremendous debt faced by today’s medical students.

The TAFP Foundation began awarding scholarships to medical students in 1994. Since that time, more than $65,000 has been distributed. The Foundation Board wanted to know what happened to these students who received scholarships. Did they choose family medicine? Where are they practicing? The staff set to work locating the 53 scholarship recipients. Many are still in training, but 85 percent of those who are out of medical school selected family medicine. Of the 35 recipients who are in family medicine residencies or in practice, 22 are still in Texas. When these results are broken down by scholarship, we find that one scholarship had a bad track record, but the rest have 100 percent of their recipients either in family medicine careers or still in medical school.

At the TAFP Annual Session in July, seven medical students were honored with scholarships during the general session. Foundation President, Stephen Benold, M.D., presented the following scholarships: John Redman of UTMB Galveston received the Weldon G. Kolb, M.D., Medical Student Scholarship; Martha Gutierrez of UTMB Galveston and Delfino Garza and Patricia Santistevan of UTHSC San Antonio all received the Valley Chapter Scholarship; Winston Liaw of Baylor College of Medicine and Emily Dickinson Briggs of UT Houston received the Harold T. Pruessner, M.D., Medical Student Scholarship; and Eric Lee, a recent graduate of UT Southwestern, received the first ever South Texas Chapter Scholarship.

TRAVEL FUNDING

The TAFP Foundation also provides travel funding for medical students and residents to attend TAFP and AAFP meetings. Over 50 students and residents received travel funding to attend state and national meetings this year.

As the AAFP is the national partner of the TAFP, so the AAFP Foundation is the partner of the TAFP Foundation. The AAFP Foundation is proud to serve the nationwide and international interests of Academy members through research, education, and charitable activities. The AAFP/F also assists chapter foundations with resources that enhance core programs. Your support of both Foundations is essential to make a healthy impact at the state level and for the specialty at large.