CAEP 2014 Academic symposium: “How to make research succeed in your department: How to fund your research program”

Abstract

Objective: We sought to gather a comprehensive list of funding strategies and opportunities for emergency medicine (EM) centres across Canada, and make recommendations on how to successfully fund all levels of research activity, including research projects, staff salaries, infrastructure, and researcher stipends. Methods: We formed an expert panel consisting of volunteers recognized nationally for their scholarly work in EM. First, we conducted interviews with academic leaders and researchers to obtain a description of their local funding strategies using a standardized open-ended questionnaire. Panelists then identified emerging funding models. Second, we listed funding opportunities and initiatives at the provincial, national, and international levels. Finally, we used an iterative consensusbased approach to derive pragmatic recommendations after incorporating comments and suggestions from participants at an academic symposium. Results: Our review of funding strategies identified four funding models: 1) investigator dependent model, 2) practice plan, 3) generous benefactor, and 4) mixed funding. Recommendations in this document include approaches for research contributors and producers (seven recommendations), for local academic leaders (five recommendations), and for national organizations, such as the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) (three recommendations). Conclusions: Funding for research in EM varies across Canada and is largely insecure. We offer recommendations to help facilitate funding for large and small projects, for salary support, and for local and national leaders to advance EM research. We believe that these recommendations will increase funding for all levels of EM research activity, including research projects, staff salaries, infrastructure, and researcher stipends.

An Environmental Scan of Academic Emergency Medicine at the 17 Canadian Medical Schools: Why Does this Matter to Emergency Physicians?

“…The variability in infrastructure, support, and productivity of emergency medicine research programs across Canada was discussed at the 2014 CAEP Academic Symposium on Research, where recommendations were refined and published to improve research funding, resident research, and training for career researchers. [3][4][5][6] The importance of education and its development was addressed at the 2013 CAEP Academic Section Consensus Conference on Education Scholarship. Recommendations centered on improvements to teaching and learning, as well as the support and development of education scholars.…”

CAEP 2015 Academic Symposium: Current State and Recommendations to Achieve Adequate and Sustainable Funding for Emergency Medicine Academic Units

“…Alternatively, recommendations to achieve appropriate funding for EM research programs outside of salary support included developing endowments, philanthropy, matched funding, improved AFPs, and partnering with industry, which was similar to a very recently published Canadian academic research funding analysis. 8 …”

Executive summary of the CAEP 2014 Academic Symposium: How to make research succeed in your department

“…Dynamic discussions and suggestions provided at the symposium (which had 80 attendees, including physician-scientists, educators, administrators, clinicians, and residents) augmented and refined the recommendations, which are summarized herein and will be presented in detail in the next three CJEM issues. 1,2,3 …”