New grant funding available aimed at eliminating inequities in health care
Leading national health care organizations dedicate $500,000 to fix diagnostic gaps, among other issues to be addressed
PHILADELPHIA, November 14, 2022 – Internal medicine residents and faculty working to eliminate inequities plaguing the nation’s health care system are encouraged to apply for new grant funding being made available from several leading health care organizations and health foundations.
The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the ABIM Foundation, the American College of Physicians (ACP), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation are co-sponsoring Building Trust Through Diversity, Health Care Equity, Inclusion and Diagnostic Excellence in Internal Medicine Training, a $500,000 grant program to enhance integration of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into the fabric of internal medicine education and training.
This funding is intended to support inter-professional projects that are led by internal medicine residents, fellows, and faculty focused on improving trust and advancing health equity in the health care system.
As a result of new support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, $100,000 of the funding pool is dedicated to addressing diagnostic gaps that exacerbate inequity, such as discrepancies in pulse oximetry and their impact on patients with COVID-19.
Sponsors are interested in funding two types of projects:
- Education-driven proposals that focus on providing training, skill, and competency acquisition with the goal of promoting trustworthiness through equitable outcomes.
- Proposals that focus on engineering care processes to promote trustworthiness through equity.
Examples of successful projects could include:
- Training programs that incorporate DEI principles and employ best practices from inter-professional education.
- Quality improvement programs and program evaluations that advance trustworthiness through health equity.
- Ideas for building trustworthiness and psychological safety among teams, including an intentional focus on recognizing bias, advancing diversity, appreciating intersectionality, and dismantling barriers to being heard due to hierarchical structures.
Letters of intent will be accepted through January 9, 2023 and selected applicants will be invited to submit a formal proposal. Grants of $10,000, $20,000, and $40,000 will be awarded in summer 2023.
The new grants bring the total amount dedicated to addressing health inequities from sponsors to nearly $1.2 million. In 2021, $287,500 was awarded to 32 projects ranging from expanding community-focused health curriculum for primary care residents to developing training programs to work directly with historically marginalized communities.
Funding totaling $400,000 was awarded earlier in 2022 to 24 projects at medical schools and training programs as part of year two of the program. Projects include working with community-based organizations to enhance internal medicine resident understanding of the importance of health equity at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center and a mentorship program for high school students that are considering a career in health care at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine Case Western Reserve University, among others.
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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 LinkedIn 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 160,000 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 Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Visit www.moore.org or follow @MooreFound.
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.
Media Contact
Jaime McClennen
jmcclennen@abim.org