T32 NRSA General Pediatrics & Primary Care Fellowship

Fellows APA Regional Meeting

Fellowship Program Overview

The goal of the Primary Care Research Fellowship at the University of Rochester is to provide a rigorous model of primary care research training that produces investigators who can study, evaluate, disseminate, and implement best practices in primary care. Fellows will develop a deep understanding of the cultural, community, practice-based and system factors that facilitate the translation of new knowledge into improved health outcomes for vulnerable populations. M.D. fellows from pediatrics and family medicine, and Ph.D. fellows from behavioral health, nursing and public health sciences are welcome to apply.

The fellowship offers a primary care research curriculum for fellows with diverse racial/ethnic and educational backgrounds to improve the health of adults and children living in poverty. Educational goals emphasize the key domains of research, population health, and leadership/career development. From weekly seminars and coursework, fellows learn core skills such as design of primary care research, team science, scientific communications, and leadership. M.D./D.O.s earn a master’s in public health sciences. Ph.D.s develop projects that enable them to learn from clinical fellows and faculty about primary health care challenges, and share with M.D.s their advanced expertise in quantitative science.

The fellowship provides experiential learning in health disparities research, population health, and research dissemination.

• Fellows conduct primary and/or secondary research projects in health disparities. The program teaches scholarship in research to identify and intervene to reduce health disparities (e.g., mental health access, telehealth, and value-based care). Mentored experiences address research design, project management, data analysis and interpretation, and health equity. Conducting primary or secondary data analyses, fellows develop hands-on experience with primary care research that is sensitive to family, culture, and community, and relevant to the healthcare system as a whole.
• Fellows participate in primary care health services delivery and engage in population health activities, including practice-based QI, culturally responsive healthcare, and community engagement, culminating in responsive health equity research. All fellows conduct collaborative, multidisciplinary primary care QI projects in a clinical setting with a special focus on applying their research findings to the real world.
• Fellows receive mentoring and practice in scientific writing, dissemination of findings, and application of knowledge gained from research. Fellows benefit from teaching and intensive mentoring on scientific writing with a national expert. To develop skills in academic dissemination, fellows will submit abstracts and present their work at national professional meetings, write manuscripts on their findings, and apply for grant funding to support their future scholarship.