What Resulted From Past Efforts of This Type by the ACR?
The 1997 panel’s report was divided into four sections: research, training and education, patient care, and partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry. Some important outcomes of key recommendations include the following:
- Recommendations to strengthen the Rheumatology Research Foundation, previously the ACR Research and Education Foundation, and develop a mechanism for “block grants” from the pharmaceutical industry became the basis for the development of the Corporate Roundtable. This has allowed for exponential growth of Foundation funding and programs, allowing the Foundation to fund more than $12 million in research grants this fiscal year.
- The recommendation to devise a mechanism for support and cultivation of rheumatology clinician scholar educators led directly to the development of the Rheumatology Research Foundation’s Clinician Scholar Educator Award, which has contributed to career development and retention of an important subset of academic rheumatology faculty. Fifty-five notable scholars across the U.S. have received support from this program since its inception in 2000.
- The suggestion to restructure the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting into distinct modules that would appeal to either researchers or clinicians, while not fully implemented, led to the creation of the highly successful basic and clinical research preconference courses. These courses have helped to augment the participation of researchers in the annual meeting, which has grown considerably and now includes specialized tracks for clinicians, educators, researchers, etc.
- The panel recommended development of training standards for fellowship programs, and this was addressed with the creation of a core curriculum and an in-training examination. Much more support is now available for fellows to participate in professional meetings, and these programs have become a funding priority for the ACR.
What Process Did This Current Panel Follow?
In order to develop recommendations relevant to the ACR today, the 2012 panel implemented methodology commonly used in strategic planning to: 1) analyze the current state of academic rheumatology in the U.S.; 2) set strategic directions and goals to ensure its success in the future; and 3) develop an action plan with projected benchmarks and outcomes to ensure that these goals are met and that accountability is maintained.
The panel was carefully constructed to involve representatives from a variety of constituent groups within the academic rheumatology community including: academic clinical practice, pediatrics, basic science, clinical investigation, health information technology, training programs, and health professionals. The nature of the process was highly collaborative, with input solicited from a variety of committees as well as the membership at large.
