Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry Grant Program Technical Assistance

Pre-Application Conference Calls
October 25- November 1, 2007
1 to 3 pm ET

• Register by e-mail.
  Please add the name of the grant program in the subject line and include in the message your name, title, and institution.
  Your confirmation e-mail will include the dial-in telephone number and access code for the call.
• Submit questions by e-mail at least three days prior to the call. You do not have to submit a question to participate.

Helpful Hints for Writing an Application

• printer-friendly Helpful Hints

Program Areas

• Residency Training in Primary Care
• Physician Faculty Development in Primary Care
• Predoctoral Training in Primary Care
• Academic Administrative Units in Primary Care
• Physician Assistant Training in Primary Care
• Residency Training in General and Pediatric Dentistry

Writing the Grant Application

What Do You Want to Do? The IDEA (Objectives)

• Can you state what you want to do in educational terms?
• Does it relate to the training of medical students, residents, physician assistant students, dental residents, faculty development, improvement of academic administrative units, improvement in the clinical instruction in family medicine, general internal medicine, and/or general pediatrics?

Will Your Objectives Meet the Purpose of The Program Areas?

• Residency Training in Primary Care - to plan, develop, and operate or participate (including provision of financial assistance to residents in such programs) in approved residency programs in family medicine, general internal medicine, and/or general pediatrics;
• Physician Faculty Development in Primary Care - to plan, develop, and operate (including the provision of financial assistance to trainees in such programs) programs for the training of physicians who plan to teach in family medicine (including geriatrics), general internal medicine, and/or general pediatrics training program(s);
• Predoctoral Training in Primary Care - to plan, develop, and operate or participate (including provision of financial assistance to students in such programs) in predoctoral programs in family medicine, general internal medicine, and/or general pediatrics;
• Academic Administrative Units in Primary Care - to meet the costs of projects to establish, maintain or improve academic administrative units (which may be departments, divisions, or other units) to provide clinical instruction in family medicine, general internal medicine, or general pediatrics;
• Physician Assistant Training in Primary Care - to meet the costs of projects to plan, develop, and operate or maintain programs for the training of physician assistants and for the training of individuals who will teach in programs to provide training of physician assistants;
• Residency Training in General and Pediatric Dentistry - to meet the costs of planning, developing, or operating programs, of general dentistry or pediatric dentistry in dental schools, approved residency programs in the general or pediatric practice of dentistry, approved advanced education programs in the general or pediatric practice of dentistry, or approved residency programs in pediatric dentistry.

Does Your Program Meet Eligibility Requirements for the Specific Program Area?

• Residency Training in Primary Care
• Physician Faculty Development in Primary Care
• Physician Assistant Training in Primary Care
  Public or nonprofit private hospitals, accredited schools of medicine or osteopathic medicine, or public or private nonprofit entities, including faith-based and community-based organizations.

• Predoctoral Training in Primary Care
• Academic Administrative Units in Primary Care
  Public or nonprofit private accredited schools of allopathic or osteopathic medicine, including faith-based and community-based organizations.

• Residency Training in General and Pediatric Dentistry
  Accredited dental schools, approved residency programs in advanced education for pediatric or general practice of dentistry, including faith-based and community-based organizations.

Have You Met the Project Guidelines (Other Eligibility Information) for the Specific Discipline and Program Area?

• See application guidance for specific discipline and program area project guidelines.

Why Do You Want to Do These Objectives? (Rationale)

• Did your institution have a recent accreditation review that now requires you to make some corrections?
• Are there new emerging topics in medical education that you want to incorporate into your curriculum?
• Do you need to develop faculty skills related to a new curriculum?
• Does your faculty need training to teach your proposed curriculum?
• Do you want to expand your Division of General Internal Medicine or General Pediatrics or Department of Family Medicine?
• Does a recent needs assessment among students, residents and/or faculty demonstrate a need for enhanced competency in a specific area, e.g. cultural competency, professionalism?
• Does local/national data or literature demonstrate a need for your objectives?

Will Your Idea Include at Least One of the Areas of Special Consideration Listed in the Grant Guidance?

• Underserved populations and other high risk groups such as elderly, individuals with HIV-AIDS, substance abusers, homeless, and victims of domestic violence.
• Education innovations (e.g., professionalism, patient safety, quality improvement, health literacy, cultural competency, mental health, oral health, and genetics.

Do Your Objectives Relate to Healthy People 2010?

Healthy People 2010 Overarching Goals:

1. Increase quality and years of healthy life
2. Eliminate health disparities
   • Focus Areas 1-28
   • Leading Health Indicators 1-10

Can You Justify the Need for this Activity? (Needs Assessment, Literature Review)

• Did you perform a needs assessment?
• Did you survey your students, residents or faculty and they indicated that they lacked this competency or core clinical skill once they were out in practice?
• Does the literature support your rationale?
• Does the literature support your methodology?
• Have you researched the literature on the topic? Can you provide an explanation of the rationale and assumptions upon which the project objectives will be based?
• Has this particular activity been developed and is available off the shelf? If so, what are you developing that is different?

How Do You Plan to Accomplish the Activity? (Methodology)

• Do you plan to develop a new curriculum?
• Do you plan to send students or residents to rural areas for training?
• Do you plan to expand the number of trainees in the residency training program or establish a generalist track?
• Do you plan to develop faculty development courses through distance learning technology?

Can the Objectives Be Accomplished in Three Years? (Timeline)

• How long will it take to develop, implement, and evaluate the objectives?
• What activities will occur in each year of the grant?

What Obstacles May Prevent You from Accomplishing the Objectives or Make It Difficult to Complete the Objectives? (Resolution of Challenges)

• Will you need to move the course to a different year?
• Will you need to change another faculty member's course?
• Will the Dean or Department Chair or Curriculum Committee agree to the change?
• If you plan to put students in a rural community for an extended time, will there be housing for the students? How will this impact married students or residents?
• Will there be sufficient number of community preceptors?
• Will community preceptors make time to attend the proposed training?
• Are there sufficient numbers of faculty interested in the faculty development training?
• Will you be able to recruit students, residents, or fellows into the proposed program?

Who Will Be Responsible for Accomplishing the Objectives?

• Do you have faculty with experience and expertise in the required subject area? If so, do their curriculum vitas reflect the experience?
• What faculty or staff will teach students, residents, or fellows?
• Do you need to hire the services of a consultant to help develop the curriculum or a component of the objectives? If so, do you have a letter of commitment from this person? Or can you convince the reviewers that you will be able to recruit a person with the necessary skills and experience for a particular activity?
• If partnering with another organization (e.g., community health center, rural training site), who will be responsible for supervising the training of students, residents or fellows at that organization?

Where Will this Activity Be Placed in the Curriculum? Will this Activity Replace Another Course?

• Do you have support from the Dean, Department Chair or Residency Director to develop this curriculum or rotation?
• Do you have letters of support from faculty from other departments, institutions, community sites, or consultants?
• Does the letter identify what the person will contribute toward implementation of the objectives?

How Will You Know You Have Accomplished the Objectives? (Evaluative Strategies)

• Can the objectives be measured?
• Can you describe the methods that will be used to measure the outcomes of the project in terms of each objective?
• What data will be collected, the methods for collection and the manner in which data will be analyzed and reported?
• What kind of assessment tools are you using? Are they qualitative or quantitative?
• How often will your trainees be assessed for competencies?
• Can you show an impact of the training in three years among trainees?

Is Your Institution Committed to Primary Care and a Diverse Workforce?

• Is there a recruitment and retention plan for minority trainees and faculty?
• Is there evidence that the institution is committed to retaining disadvantaged and underrepresented minority students, residents and faculty?
• Does your institution have a successful track record of placing graduates into underserved communities?
• Does your institution have a successful track record of graduating students, trainees and residents into primary care careers?

What Resources Are Available at the Institution and Community Level? (faculty, staff, facilities, community organizations)

• Have you discussed with the community health center administrator about placing the medical students or residents in their facility? If so, do you have a letter of support from this individual?
• What sites, facilities and resources are currently available?
• Are there faculty in other departments or schools who can serve as resources for your students, residents, and fellows?

What Resources Do You Need from HRSA to Accomplish the Objectives? (Budget Request)

• Do you have the faculty or staff with the experience and expertise at your institution or will you need a consultant? Once the consultants have completed their task how will you retain the expertise at your institution?
• Have you requested adequate time from the faculty or staff to accomplish their part of the project?
• Have you adequately justified the amount of time commitment/money requested?
• Are all items requested in the budget related to the objectives? e.g., computers, laptops, PDAs?
• Is your budget realistic?

What Will the Institute Contribute to the Costs of the Project?

• Can you describe in-kind contributions of faculty or staff time, supplies, or equipment?
• Have you included a statement regarding “Maintenance of Effort”

Can the Results of Your Project Be Used by Other Institutions, Departments or Programs After You Have Developed It? (Dissemination)

• Have you developed cases on cultural competency that can be used at other institutions?
• Can other people access your materials at a website, via CD or DVD?
• Can your accomplishments/activities be presented at national meetings?

Do You Have a History of Grant Funds from HRSA in the Same Program Area that You Are Requesting Funding, e.g., Residency Training (Progress Report)

• Did you accomplish your previous objectives?
• Did you disseminate your results?
• Were there problems in implementing the objectives? If so, how did you resolve the problems?

Additional Items to Consider in Writing a Grant Application

• Have you requested a preference and/or priority?
• Have you addressed each item in the Project Narrative? Did you provide sufficient details for each section?
• Have you addressed at least one of the areas of special consideration?
• How does the project relate to Healthy People 2010?
• Did you include letters of support and biographical sketches?
• Is it clear how the objectives will improve the educational training and competencies of students, residents, fellows or faculty?
• Have you included a detailed budget for each year of the grant?
• Are the equipment and supplies requested in the budget related to the objectives?
• What is the benefit or advantage of having an electronic format vs. traditional textbooks?
• How do the proposed objectives differ from the previous funded project?
• Are the objectives stated in educational terms?
• Is the methodology clearly presented?
• Are the roles and responsibilities of the faculty and staff clearly presented?
• Are the roles and experience of the consultants identified?
• Have you included sufficient faculty and staff time to accomplish the objectives, regardless of whether they are paid by the HRSA grant?
• Are the outcome measures realistic?
• Have you included the budget justification?
• Have you checked the mathematical calculations?
• Are the dissemination plans realistic?
• If you were funded within the last four years, have you included a progress report?
• Have you proofread your grant application for spelling and grammar errors?