If so, you have kindred spirits in two places: (1) in the "North American Primary Care Research Group" and (2) locally, within the "North Carolina Network Consortium".
First, the North American Primary Care Research Group (NA PCRG) comprises 100+ practice-based research networks (PBRNs), offering opportunities primarily in the form of conferences, newsletters, funding announcements and resources, all inspiring networking and collaboration. The upcoming annual meeting takes place in Cancun, Mexico, October 24-28, 2015. DGIM members should note that a clinician stipend up to $2000 each is available for qualified providers. These applications are due September 11, 2015. Click here to register and read more.
Besides the annual meeting, the North American Primary Care Research Group (NA PCRG) sponsors an annual conference for PBRN researchers (practice-based research network researchers). DGIM's Rowena Dolor, MD, MHS, continues to serve as the PBRN conference co-chair - 2014, 2015, and 2016. Read this Post Conference Newsletter - 2015 to learn about the event's impressive plenary speakers, poster sessions, their 42 oral presentations and 12 workshops, all available now online. The conference took place June 29-30, 2015, in Bethesda, MD.
Closer to home is the North Carolina Network Consortium (NCNC), representing over 277 practices in North Carolina, including all three primary care specialties - family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics. It's notable that there is strong representation of minority and rural populations. The participating academic institutions are the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, East Carolina School of Medicine, and Carolinas HealthCare System. The Duke Primary Care Research Consortium (PCRC), led by Dr. Dolor, is one of the 7 practice-based research networks within the consortium.
This Newsletter Summer 2015 from NCNC also applauds Dr. Dolor's leadership and summarizes the North American PCRG conference for PBRN researchers.
We plan to keep our GIM members alerted to primary care research and the many opportunities for study and participation. You can also follow on Twitter: @NAPCRG and @NCNCpbrns