Physician’s Foundation Grant – Timeline, Curriculum, Content, Faculty, Mentorship
Program Overview:
The Physicians’ Foundation Grant to Partners Graduate Medical Education has provided an opportunity for a cohort of
Partners residents to gain a focused training experience in health policy and health care delivery through didactic
sessions, case-based learning, and a mentored longitudinal project. The grant amount will cover costs for two cohorts
of approximately 20 residents each to participate in the program. Program dates will be January to December 2011 for
the first cohort, and January to December 2012 for the second cohort.
Program Leadership:
Program Director: Ryan Thompson, MD
Program Manager: Jennifer Goldsmith, MS
Senior Program Advisors: Debra Weinstein, MD; Timothy Ferris, MD, MPH
Summary of Program Content:
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Attendance at 6 of 9 Partners Health Policy Center of Expertise (CoE) dinner sessions during the program
period
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Participation in three or four 3-hour intensive content sessions (to be held late weekday afternoons or
Saturday mornings, depending on schedule preferences of participants and faculty availability)
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Mentorship from individualized mentor, senior faculty, and program director
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Development and completion of a longitudinal project in collaboration with a faculty mentor, culminating in an
academic product to be submitted to an external source (research abstract, teaching case, perspective piece or
Op-Ed, etc.)
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Presentation of completed project to faculty audience
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Optional participation in health policy immersion experience in Washington DC (Fall 2011)
Core Faculty for Program
The program will invite several senior faculty members from across Partners to serve as Core Faculty for the program.
Core Faculty members will serve as senior advisors for the program curriculum, and may be involved in delivering core
content for the curriculum. Each resident will be assigned to one Core Faculty member as a senior-level mentor. Core
Faculty members will be asked to meet with their resident(s) at least once during Blocks 1 and 2 to provide career
advising and mentorship.
Mentoring and Longitudinal Project
Participants will be assigned to an individualized mentor with to develop and/or participate in a longitudinal project.
Mentors will most likely be mid- or early-career faculty members involved in health policy or health care delivery
efforts, both inside and outside Partners. Effort will be made to match participant and mentor based on shared
interests and career goals.
Projects should align with each participant’s specific interests and aspirations related to health policy or health care
delivery. Thus projects may look quite different, but each will involve collaboration with faculty, idea-sharing with
peers, and a final written product to be submitted to an external entity. Examples of final written products could be a
research abstract, an Op-Ed or perspective piece on a health policy or health care delivery issue, a case related to a
health policy or health care delivery issue for use in a teaching course.
The program director and program manager will be responsible to match interested residents with appropriate
mentors. Faculty commitment would vary based on the project but would likely include periodic meetings through the
period from January-September 2011 and attendance at a final project presentation in October 2010. A modest
stipend will be available to mentors for their efforts.
Program Goals and Curriculum
Goal I: Understand the general background of U.S. health policy issues, particularly health care financing, access to care,
and quality of care.
Potential Topics (either stand alone topics or integrated into a multi-topic lecture)
 A brief history of US health care reform
 Medicare and Medicaid – history and current status
 Massachusetts health reform – 2006
 Overview of managed care, HMO’s, and employer-sponsored insurance
 Issues related to access to care for the uninsured and underinsured
 The high cost of health care – where, why, how
 The intersection of health policy and quality of care
 Understanding market forces in healthcare
 Comparative health systems
 Hospital care and reimbursement
 Overview of physician payment
Goal II: Understand components of current plans and approaches to increase access, lower costs, and improve quality of
health care in the U.S, with emphasis on recent state and national legislation.
Potential Topics (either as stand alone topics or integrated in a multi-topic lecture)
 An overview of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
 Chaos and organization in health care
 Health information technology – present and future
 Alternative payment models: pay-for-performance, bundled payments, global payments
 Alternative delivery models I: integrated delivery systems, accountable care organizations
 Alternative delivery models II: patient-centered medical home, MGH Care Management Program
 Disruptive innovations in health care
 Measuring hospital and physician performance
 Risk Adjustment and Public Reporting of Physician Performance
 Pharmaceuticals and medical devices
Goal III: Develop practical skills and abilities relative to future involvement in health policy or health care leadership.
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Potential Topics (either as stand alone topics or integrated in multi topic lectures)
Delivery reform at the micro-system level
Leading change through teams and teamwork
Practical quality improvement skills
Negotiation
Health care advocacy 101
Time Line for Cohort 1
Pre-Program Planning – Early December 2010
- Invitations to Core Faculty
- Announcement of program to Residency Program Directors
Applications – Mid December 2010 to Early January 2011
- Call for applications
- Application review and participant selection
- Announcement of Cohort I by mid-January
- Recruitment of individual mentors
End of January – Early February 2011
- Pre-program knowledge assessment
- Kickoff event – dinner/speaker vs. Saturday morning session (speakers and/or workshop)
- Initial 1:1 meeting with Program Director – discuss goals, interests, potential projects
- Assign individual mentors based on career interests and background
Block 1 – February 2011 through end of June 2011
- CoE dinner attendance – 3 of 5 Health Policy CoE dinners; and Q&S dinner attendance encouraged
- Introduction to faculty mentors and initiation of longitudinal project
- Two 3-hour content sessions – to be scheduled based on schedule preferences of cohort (weekday late afternoon /
early evening vs. Saturday morning) Topics: see above
- One career-advising meeting with Core Faculty member
- May 2011 – optional participation in MGH DOM Health Policy Seminar (not including DC trip)
- Optional 1:1 follow-up meeting with Program Director to review mentorship process and project status
Block 2 – July 2011 to December 2011
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CoE dinner attendance – 3 of 4 Health Policy CoE dinners; AHCM and Q&S dinner attendance encouraged
Continued work with mentor on longitudinal project
One career-advising meeting with Core Faculty member
One or two 3-hour content sessions – to be scheduled based on schedule preferences of cohort (weekday late
afternoon / early evening vs. Saturday morning) Topics: see above
Presentation of completed projects to faculty audience
Optional participation in health policy trip to Washington – Sept or Oct 2011
Final 1:1 meeting with Program Director – feedback and evaluations, future plans
Post-program knowledge assessment
Optional Washington, D.C. Policy Trip
Trip content: 1) visits to health policy agencies; 2) meetings with health policy leaders; 3) group presentation to
congressional aide on health policy issue.
Health Advocacy 101 workshop with Maureen Goggin for those going to DC – July 2011
July to September 2011 – participants will form groups of 3-4 to research health policy issue in preparation for
group presentation at the Capitol.
Cohort 2 – pre-program planning in November 2011, call for applications December 2011