Family medicine plays a crucial role in improving patient care, health care systems, and population health. However, there are significant barriers that family medicine departments face when it comes to producing scholarly work. One of the main challenges is the high demand for patient care, which leaves limited time for research activities. Additionally, limited funding poses another obstacle for conducting research in family medicine.
A recent study published in The Annals of Family Medicine investigated the impact of financial incentives and department size on the scholarly activity output of family medicine departments. The study involved surveying department chairs from family medicine departments across the United States and Canada using a Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) questionnaire. The survey collected data on scholarly activities such as research articles and presentations, as well as whether departments offered financial incentives for such work.
The results of the study revealed several key findings. Only 39% of the responding departments offered financial incentives for scholarly activity, with only 18% providing cash-based incentives. Surprisingly, departments that offered financial incentives did not necessarily report higher rates of scholarly output. Departments with fewer than 25 full-time faculty members were found to be 80% less likely to produce six or more presentations. The main barriers to offering financial incentives were identified as institutional budget constraints and department culture or tradition.
In order to increase scholarly productivity in family medicine departments, institutions may benefit from focusing on increasing faculty size or investing in research support staff such as consultants, statistical analysts, and grant writers. By addressing these barriers and providing adequate support for research activities, family medicine departments can enhance their scholarly output and contribute to advancements in the field.
For more information on this study, you can refer to the publication in The Annals of Family Medicine titled “Impact of Financial Incentives and Department Size on Scholarly Activity Output.” The DOI for the study is 10.1370/afm.240061.
This research sheds light on the challenges faced by family medicine departments in conducting scholarly work and provides valuable insights for addressing these barriers. By addressing issues related to funding and department size, family medicine departments can pave the way for more impactful research and improved patient care outcomes.
