Dartmouth Medical School recently received a $1.35 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund a plan aimed at increasing the number of general practitioners.
The program, called the Generalist Physician Initiative, will try to recruit, train and retain general practitioners for the Northern New England area, said Dr. Rosemary Orgren, co-director of DMS' generalist education office.
DMS Dean Andrew Wallace is the chair of the Generalist Physician Initiative Steering Committee which played an integral role in the development of the Initiative.
The plan will provide funding for recruitment of students with an interest in general medicine, educational programs for residents about general medicine and support for current general practitioners, Orgren said.
General practitioners, or primary care physicians, include pediatricians and family practitioners. These doctors concentrate on basic health care needs and maintenance of individuals and families. In a recent press release Wallace explained what he hoped the program will achieve.
"Our goal is to provide more generalist physicians and expand opportunities for those with generalist skills through a comprehensive program to educate students, train residents and support community physicians," he said
Orgren said that concern over the low number of general practitioners in medicine today and particularly in northern New England was a major factor in the DMS' decision to develop the Initiative.
"The climate is very conducive for a plan like this one," Orgren said. "People are learning to embrace this new emphasis on general medicine and understand its importance for proper health care."
Wallace is also optimistic about the plan. "We believe this initiative will fundamentally change the practice of medicine in our region," he said.
The grant is the second of two received from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for this program, Orgren said.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsors many health care and educational service programs.
A first grant was received by the DMS 18 months ago to buy time to develop the Initiative. The DMS brought together administrators, community physicians, faculty and students to discuss and design a program that would successfully entice doctors at all levels to practice general medicine, Orgren said.
A steering committee and a series of four work groups were primarily responsible for developing the final plan for the Generalist Physicians Initiative, Orgren said. The New Directions committee, a group of faculty and students working to redesign the medical schools' curriculum, also helped design the Generalist Physicians Initiative, she added.
Following the initial period of planning and pilot testing, a second application was submitted to the Johnson Foundation for another grant to fund the actual implementation of the program.
In three years the Initiative will be evaluated by the Johnson Foundation.
If it passes evaluation, the program will continue to be supported by the Foundation through an additional non-competitive three- year grant.
Orgren said there has been a lot of support from the medical community for the development and establishment of the Initiative.
The importance of general medicine lies in the role it can play in the prevention of disease, Orgren said.
If people seek regular medical attention from a practitioner, many illnesses can be checked before they progress to a more serious level, possibly saving lives and money, she said.
In addition to the grant, the plan will be partially funded by the medical school itself as well as from the state.
