Funding is a perennial challenge for medical education researchers. Through a consensus process, the authors developed a multifaceted agenda for increasing funding of education research in emergency medicine (EM). Priority agenda items include developing resources to increase the competitiveness of medical education research faculty in grant applications, identifying means by which departments may bolster their faculty's grant writing success, taking long-term steps to increase the number of grants available to education researchers in the field, and encouraging a shift in cultural attitudes toward education research.ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2012; 19:1434-1441 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine T his article highlights the findings of the 2012 Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) consensus conference breakout session on funding of education research in emergency medicine (EM). The objectives of the session were to 1) identify the major barriers to attainment of funding by EM education researchers, emphasizing factors demonstrated to correlate with funding success; 2) to discuss feasible strategies to overcoming identified barriers; and 3) to create an agenda for supporting and developing the funding success of medical education research faculty within EM. To encourage rapid adoption of our recommendations, the session participants opted to emphasize expansion of existing programs and workshops over creation of new programming whenever possible. Consensus participants recognized that any substantial change in grant funding is ultimately tied to changing the culture in which EM education research is viewed; therefore, action items for supporting a more global culture change were emphasized.
THE CHALLENGE OF OBTAINING FUNDING FOR EM EDUCATION RESEARCHThe Institute of Medicine has called for improved rigor of education research to support and integrate innovative medical education practices 1 ; however, this directive lacks potency without a link to mechanisms for increasing available funding for education research. A paucity of funding has been identified as a major factor in the quantity and methodologic quality of medical education studies.