ABIM Foundation and Council of Medical Specialty Societies Announce Professionalism Challenge Grants

October 15, 2015 - PHILADELPHIA, PA - Today the ABIM Foundation, in partnership with the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), announced a new grant program to support physicians who are working to advance medical professionalism in their practice.

The Professionalism Challenge program will fund up to four projects of $25,000 over a two-year period. Projects will be led by practicing physicians who propose a solution to an obstacle that is keeping them from fulfilling the principles and professional commitments defined in Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter.

Published by the ABIM Foundation, American College of Physicians Foundation and European Federation of Internal Medicine in 2002, the Physician Charter defines three fundamental principles of medical professionalism – the primacy of patient welfare, patient autonomy and social justice. It also articulates physicians' professional commitments, such as improving access to high quality health care, maintaining patient trust by managing conflicts of interest and advocating for the just distribution of finite resources.

"Every day physicians strive to embody the principles and commitments of the Physician Charter, yet the environment or circumstances in which they work may hinder their ability to do so in practice," said Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of the ABIM Foundation. "These grants will enable physicians to examine the root cause of these impediments to professionalism and help them develop innovative strategies to overcome these obstacles."

In addition to helping individual physicians develop solutions to challenging situations, the Foundation will share best practices and outcomes from the grant projects to help other physicians keep their commitments to professionalism.

Physicians whose primary professional activity is providing patient care are encouraged to apply. More information about the program, including proposal requirements, can be found in the full RFP. Grant applications are due January 19, 2016.

"These grants represent an important step in addressing professionalism challenges, not just with individual clinicians, but in exploring new approaches that could be applied at a system-wide level," said Norman B. Kahn Jr., MD, Executive Vice President and CEO of CMSS. "We encourage physicians–working in practices of all sizes–to apply for a Professionalism Challenge grant so that we can advance the ideals of professionalism in medicine."

The Professionalism Challenge grant program represents an ongoing collaboration between the ABIM Foundation and CMSS. In 2009, the organizations awarded Putting the Charter into Practice grants to medical organizations that developed initiatives to advance values and behaviors articulated in the Physician Charter among practicing physicians. In 2011, a second round of Putting the Charter into Practice grants were awarded to projects that advanced the Physician Charter's commitment of just distribution of finite resources.

About the ABIM Foundation
The mission of the ABIM Foundation is to advance medical professionalism to improve the health care system. We achieve this by collaborating with physicians and physician leaders, medical trainees, health care delivery systems, payers, policy makers, consumer organizations and patients to foster a shared understanding of professionalism and how they can adopt the tenets of professionalism in practice. To learn more about the ABIM Foundation, visit abimfoundation.org, read the Medical Professionalism Blog, connect with us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

About CMSS
Founded in 1965, CMSS was created to provide an independent forum for the discussion by medical specialists of issues of national interest and mutual concern. Today, CMSS represents 44 societies with an aggregate membership of 750,000 US physicians. Its main purpose is to provide a forum for collaboration to influence policy, medical education and accreditation from a broad, cross-specialty perspective. CMSS is the unified voice for specialty societies established to improve the United States' healthcare system and health of the public. For more information, visit CMSS at www.cmss.org.