Leading Internal Medicine Organizations Sponsor $400,000 Grant Program to Build Trust and Advance Health Equity

The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the ABIM Foundation, the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation have announced a second round of grants for internal medicine residents and faculty members, designed to improve the quality of education and training and create a more trustworthy health system that serves everyone.

The first round of grants in 2020 brought in 170 applications, from which 32 projects at medical schools and training programs were selected. The grants, which totaled $287,500, include projects such as expanding community-focused health curriculum for primary care residents at Magnolia Regional Health Center/University of Mississippi Medical Center and developing a training program for medical residents to work directly with the Hispanic community at UT Southwestern Medical Center, among others.

For this second round of grants, sponsors are devoting a total of $400,000 to support new or existing programs that promote trust and create a more equitable health system by incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into the fabric of internal medicine and training. Inter-professional programs that incorporate members from across the care team will be preferred.

Specifically, sponsors are seeking proposals that (a) focus on providing training, skill and competency acquisition with the goal of promoting trustworthiness through equitable outcomes, or (b) focus on engineering care processes to promote trustworthiness through equity.

Examples of successful projects could include:

Training programs that incorporate DEI, and in particular those that employ inter-professional education best practices.

Quality improvement programs and program evaluations that advance trustworthiness through health equity.

Ideas on building trustworthiness and psychological safety among teams, including an intentional focus on recognizing bias, lack of diversity and the barriers to being heard due to hierarchical structures.

Innovative approaches to create collaborative partnerships between health systems and community-based service organizations in under-resourced communities.

Approaches that foster and support diverse and equitable pathways into medicine and faculty and leadership positions.

Letters of intent for the second round of grants will be accepted through December 1, 2021 and selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals early next year. Grants of $20,000 and $10,000 will be awarded in Spring 2022.

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About the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine
AAIM represents over 11,000 academic internal medicine faculty and administrators at medical schools and community-based teaching hospitals in the US and Canada. Its mission is to promote the advancement and professional development of its members, who prepare the next generation of internal medicine physicians and leaders through education, research, engagement, and collaboration. Follow AAIM on Twitter @AAIMOnline.

About the American Board of Internal Medicine
Since its founding in 1936 to answer a public call to establish more uniform standards for physicians, certification by the ABIM has stood for the highest standard in internal medicine and its 21 subspecialties. Certification has meant that internists have demonstrated – to their peers and to the public – that they have the clinical judgment, skills and attitudes essential for the delivery of excellent patient care. ABIM is not a membership society, but a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization. Our accountability is both to the profession of medicine and to the public.

About the ABIM Foundation
The ABIM Foundation's mission is to advance medical professionalism to improve the health care system by collaborating with physicians and physician leaders, medical trainees, health care delivery systems, payers, policymakers, 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 www.abimfoundation.org, connect on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 161,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
Since 1930, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has worked to improve health care in the United States. Founded by Kate Macy Ladd in memory of her father, prominent businessman Josiah Macy Jr., the Foundation supports projects that broaden and improve health professional education. It is the only national foundation solely dedicated to this mission. Visit the Macy Foundation at macyfoundation.org and follow on Twitter at @macyfoundation.