Society of Teachers of Family Medicine

CAFM Educational Research Alliance (CERA)

The CAFM Educational Research Alliance (CERA) is a resource to:

  • Increase the quality and frequency of research and scholarly activity among members of CAFM organizations
  • Improve the process for surveying constituents with better questions and fewer surveys
  • Provide a clearinghouse of data that CAFM members and their residents can use to meet scholarship requirements
  • Provide mentoring and education to junior researchers

CERA MISSION

The mission of CERA is to set within family medicine a standard for medical education research that is rigorous and generalizable; to provide mentoring and education to junior researchers; to facilitate collaboration between medical education researchers; and to guide the specialty by providing leadership and vision in the arena of medical education research.

How does CERA work?

CERA conducts approximately four surveys per year of CAFM members. Survey audiences vary, based on proposals, but may include:
  • Family medicine department chairs
  • Clerkship directors and other medical school faculty
  • Family medicine residency directors and other residency program faculty
  • Behavioral science faculty
  • General CAFM membership

Each survey includes questions on multiple subjects, as well as a set of recurring questions to provide data for historical comparisons.  

Recurring questions may include:

  • Demographics of medical schools, residencies and fellowship programs, eg, university- vs. community-setting, number of trainees, etc.
  • Graduate statistics of medical schools, residencies and fellowship programs, eg, % of medical students who enter family medicine, % of residents who practice in rural areas, numbers of fellows in geriatrics programs, etc.
  • Curricula questions targeting medical schools, residencies, and fellowship programs, eg, clerkship clinical topics, and residency and fellowship competencies.

Multiple surveys integrated into one survey

Survey questions on various research topics are combined with the recurring questions. Researchers get their individual survey results, plus the demographic and organizational information.

Individuals who submit specific questions for study are given 3 months to analyze the data from the survey prior to release of the data to the general membership. This gives investigators time to write a paper, yet a 3-month window is also short enough that it encourages timely write ups of results. Data is collected through STFM and housed at STFM under the oversight of CERA.


How do I get my research project questions in the next CERA survey?

CERA requests proposals for survey content several times each year. Proposals are assessed according to logistical and technical considerations, as well as to the significance and new knowledge to be yielded. Priority is given to content that is likely to yield a high quality peer-reviewed publication. The CERA Steering Committee reviews proposed content and provides comments to proposers.

Specific deadlines for proposals will be posted on the CAFM constituent members’  Web sites. Researchers should submit a brief proposal describing the proposed project. Download the Proposal Application

What's next for CERA?

CERA is now seeking ideas for projects with questions and methodologies for multiple institutions. The goal is to allow for collaboration on projects that will benefit from a larger sample size -- basically, a network for medical education research.

CERA may be able to help you develop your ideas into a research project that involves educators at other institutions. Send a brief proposal to Mary Theobald at mltheobald@stfm.org.

What if I need mentoring?

A benefit of CERA is that institutions that don't have a strong research infrastructure or experienced investigators can receive help in moving from an idea to publication. The CERA Steering Committee is available to answer questions and assist individuals in preparing proposals. Once projects have been approved, experienced researchers from the CERA steering committee join each project team to help refine questions, facilitate analysis, and prepare and submit manuscripts. Because of their extensive involvement with the project, researchers who join your team should be included as authors on published papers/presentations.

Can I get funding for my survey project?

The iInTime leadership, (publishers of fmCASES), have agreed to provide $10,000 in grant money to support CERA studies. The CERA Steering Committee will manage this process. 

Funds may be budgeted in the categories below. The current priority for scholarships is funding for presentations/publication of research.  Indirect costs will not be provided.

  • Required equipment (eg, a laptop computer) and supplies (eg, photocopying).
  • Travel (eg, funds to present project outcomes at CAFM conferences and/or attend project team meetings).
  • Personnel (eg, to purchase a statistical consultant's time). Funds for faculty and/or staff release time must be contributed "in-kind" by departments/programs.
  • Publication fees (eg, to pay page fees some journals now charge for publication of studies).

Those interested can request funding when completing the CERA Proposal application.

What about IRB approval?

CERA omnibus surveys will use the AAFP IRB, a federally approved IRB. Investigators should follow their local IRB policies regarding use of the data. 

Who is involved?

While STFM is taking the development lead, CERA partners include all the Council of Academic Family Medicine (CAFM) Organizations: Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM), Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG), and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

CERA Steering Committee Members:

Arch ‘Chip’ Mainous, PhD, CERA Co-chair, Medical University of South Carolina
Major Dean Seehusen, MD, MPH, CERA Co-chair,Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Fort, Belvoir, VA
Alec Chessman, MD, Medical University of South Carolina
Alison Dobbie, MD, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, ADFM liaison
Kelly Everard, PhD, St. Louis University
John Saultz, MD, Oregon Health & Science University, ADFM liaison
George Bergus, MD, MAEd, University of Iowa
Tammy Chang, MD, MPH, University of Michigan
Randall Clinch, DO, MS, Wake Forest University
Betsy Jones, EdD, Texas Tech University HSC
Steve Ratcliffe, MD, Lancaster Family Medicine Residency, AFMRD liaison
Kiran Shokar, MA, MD, MPH, Texas Tech University HSC
Mimi Tarn, MD, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

Questions?

If you have questions about CERA or how your research project can be included, contact CERA Chair Arch 'Chip" Mainous, PhD