Expanding the Field of Surgical Researchers: The Jahnigen Career Development Award

Abstract

Under a long‐standing collaboration with the John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF), the Atlantic Philanthropies (AP), and specialty societies in 10 targeted specialties, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) has been working to improve quality of care provided to older adults by surgical and related medical specialists. To support and nurture future academic leaders, the Geriatrics‐for‐Specialists Initiative (GSI) established the Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholar Award (JCDA) program in 2002, with AP joining JAHF as a core funder of the awards in 2003. Commencing in 2011, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) launched the Grants for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists’ Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR) program, using an RO3 mechanism. Recipients of the JCDA and the GEMSSTAR are provided with 2 years of research support and networking opportunities with other scholars; 79 JCDA and 26 surgical and related medical specialty GEMSSTAR scholars have been funded through these award mechanisms, with AGS, JAHF, and surgical and related medical specialty societies providing matching support for 20 of the GEMSSTAR scholars for leadership development programs. One of the primary criteria for judging the overall success of the program was eventual transition of the award to a federally funded program, which was achieved when NIA launched the GEMSSTAR program in 2011.

Big ‘G’ and Little ‘g’ Geriatrics Education for Physicians

“…Train‐the‐trainer models and integrated and mini‐fellowships could ensure little “g” competency across specialties and practice sites, but a preceptor does not have to be a geriatrician. As noted above, many specialties, aided by career development awards supported by the National Institute on Aging have geriatrics champions who are increasingly taking responsibility for teaching their trainees core geriatric content to provide quality care for older adults . The principles‐of‐change theory suggests that this is the most effective way to mainstream geriatrics into these disciplines.…”

Geriatrics‐for‐Specialists Initiative: An Eleven‐Specialty Collaboration to Improve Care of Older Adults

“…(The T. Franklin Williams Awards were established to support young faculty pursuing careers in the specialties of internal medicine.) A companion article in this issue on the career development of young specialty scholars and leaders details this component of the GSI . Seventy‐nine Jahnigen Scholars and 21 SRMS GEMSSTAR scholars have been funded through these award mechanisms, with the AGS and SRMS societies providing matching support for 20 of the GEMSSTAR scholars for leadership development.…”

Improving Specialty Care of Older Adults: Creating Champions, Supporting Research, Fostering Partnerships

“…To date, we've developed a cadre of 105 investigators of geriatric situations who communicate with others in their same surgical or related fields as do pediatricians. Their subsequent productivity has been phenomenal, as noted in the article by Deiner et al And, as depicted in all the accompanying articles, they do so with national convocations that allow exchange of ideas and networking and will continue to do so …”

“…The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF) partnered together in the early 1992 to improve the geriatrics expertise of surgical and related medical specialties. As reported in the three companion articles elsewhere in this Journal, the AGS and JAHF partnership grew over time to include 12 organizations representing 11 specialties who, along with the Atlantic Philanthropies, partnered with AGS and JAHF in setting forth a research agenda, supporting research awards for early career surgical and related medical specialists, creating educational programming for residents in their respective disciplines, and a number of other activities focused on the project's core goals. This effort was undertaken in parallel to other JAHF initiatives focused on the medical specialties, practicing physicians, social work, and nursing.…”