Call For Proposals: NBME's Innovations to Advance Pathway and Bridge to Medicine Programs 

Call for Proposals

NBME in collaboration with ASPBP is issuing a request for applications to investigate the effectiveness of strategies that increase the number of minoritized or historically excluded and underrepresented individuals in the medical profession. Pathway and bridges programs across the entire educational continuum, ranging from community-based, Elementary and High School programs to programs of higher education are invited to submit applications that focus on determining and evaluating the evidence for success of a particular educational or programmatic intervention strategy in accomplishing the goal of broader diversity and ultimate better health outcomes.

Submission of a broad range of interventions, e.g. learner support such as tutoring, mentoring, psychosocial support, learner resources such as a centralized database of available programs are encouraged. Pathways and bridges programs including their community partners and other similar collaborations are invited to submit their research proposal on any topic and intervention strategy that advances justice, equity, diversity and inclusion across the educational continuum with the ultimate goal of diversifying the medical work forcethe medical work force for better health outcomes. Key criteria for evaluation and funding include the significance of the project’s impact, the innovation and feasibility of the approach, rigorous analyses, the expertise of the investigators, and the supportiveness of the environment, in addition to the application being well-grounded in literature or practice. Key performance indicators include the rate of recruitment, matriculation, retention, graduation. This includes demonstrating the successful matriculation at the next level of the learner’s education. 

Background

NBME strives to improve patient care through quality assessment of medical professionals. We look to enhance both care and assessment through collaborations in these key areas. Through our contributions, NBME seeks to support patient care and assessment in meaningful ways through collaborations and through intentional focus on four target areas: medical education and assessment, learner support, pathway programs, and health equity/ social determinants of health. 

The mission of the Association of STEMM Pathway and Bridge Programs (ASPBP) is to be a vibrant and supportive community of practice to develop and implement best practices needed to achieve inclusivity and equity across the continuum of education.  ASPBP believes that justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are essential for STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Medicine) programs to be successful and that strategies to increase these principles should be rooted in evidence-driven practices.

NBME and ASPBP are working collaboratively to develop evidence-based best practices demonstrating how pathway programs successfully support recruiting, educating and retaining physicians, particularly those from populations underrepresented in medicine.

The diversity of the medical student body and the resultant physician workforce is crucial to a rich and stimulating educational experience and essential to improving health outcomes of patients. [1,2]. Evidence strongly suggests that the patient provider relationship is more effective in improving health outcomes when there is shared decision making [3]. Shared decision making depends on respect and trust which is more likely to occur when patients and providers share a common background [4,5]. 

Yet, the make-up of the medical student body has not reflected the general population for the last four decades [6]. Blacks/African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics/Latinx individuals are underrepresented in the physician work force [6] and only recently has the make-up of the student body begun to modestly reflect the general population [7]. In response to this continued challenge, the two leading medical associations, AAMC and AMA, have renewed their efforts to increase diversity and equity by announcing specific goals in their strategic plans for 2020 and 2021-2023 respectively [8,9]. 

Pathway and bridges programs have been well-intended efforts at the individual level of elementary and high schools, community-based programs, and colleges and universities to recruit and advance individuals from underrepresented groups. These types of programs have been in existence for over 50 years [10], but evidently have had only modest success. While pathway and bridges programs hold tremendous potential and are led by committed and expert individuals, it is clear from these observations and data that there is a need to identify and develop best practices so that their full potential can be realized.

Three Types of Different Funding Opportunities

Multi-year Funding Opportunities:

• 2 Program Grants (up to $25,000 per year for three years)
• 1 Program Grant (up to $50,000 per year for three years) 
• 1 Program Grant (up to 100,000 per year for three years) 

One-time Funding Opportunities

• 4 SEED Grants (up to $20,000)
• 4 Resource grants (up to $5,000)

Multi-Year Funding:

Program grants

Three-year awards up to $100,000 per year for programs wanting to evaluate and expand an established intervention strategy or strategies. Applicants will be asked to describe their existing educational and programmatic intervention strategy or strategies and their plans for expansion and the assessment of the strategy or strategies addressing any of the key performance indicators. Preference will be given to applications that are based on existing research with preliminary data.

One-Time Funding:

Seed Grants 

One-time awards up to $20,000 for programs wanting to develop the foundation for a rational design of an intervention strategy or strategies. Applicants will be asked to submit their plans for the rational design, implementation and assessment strategies of an innovative intervention strategy or strategies addressing any of the key performance indicators. Community programs are encouraged to partner with established education entities. 

Material and Resources Grants

One-time awards up to $5,000 for programs wanting to improve their curriculum with needed educational resources e.g. learning management software, student data management software, educational or learning software. Applicants will be asked to describe the need for the requested resource grant, and how it will sustain and advance the program as well as the program’s assessment strategy.

Eligibility

• Not for profit organizations and programs (or their fiscal sponsor), and not for profit institutions
• IRB letter of approval or exemption (research comparing standard practice methodology in an educational setting) or determination of Quality Improvement is necessary prior to allocation of funds
• Progress reports shall be provided twice a year for the length of the Grant to ASPBP and forwarded to NBME.
• NBME acknowledgment shall be required on all materials or information relating to the Grants
• Grantee shall present at annual ASPBP conference and become member of ASPBP for duration of the grant funding period

Letter of Intent

· Demographics

• Name of investigator(s), affiliation, institution, contact info, institutional contact,

· Proposal

• Title
• Identify the type of grant that is applied for
• Brief description of proposal up to 500 words

· Due Date

• June 15, 2024

Application

Due Date

• September 3, 2024
   

Application Format

1. Cover page (≤1 page)

a.  Title of Grant/proposal

b.  Name of PI(s), affiliation, institution, contact info, institutional contact,

2.  Abstract/Summary Page (≤2 page)

a.  Summary of need and rationale, hypothesis of objective(s), explain how specific aims verify hypothesis or achieve objective

b.  Summary statement highlighting the significance, the feasibility of the approach, the innovation, the expertise of the investigators and the conduciveness of the environment

3. Purpose (≤5 pages)

a.  Significance and Rationale

1. Program grants: explain how the existing program has been contributing to increased DEI including defining the program’s DEI goal and how this was measured using key performance indicators. Identify the need for further intervention(s) and their potential impact.

2. Seed grants: identify the need for intervention(s) and their potential impact.

3. Material and Resource Grants: identify need for materials and resources

4. Introduction to the intervention

5. Summary of what is known about the intervention including preliminary data from own prior research/observation/existing program/ existing educational tool. 

6. Describe how increased DEI is measured 

b.  Project Goals

1. Clearly state hypothesis or objective(s)

2. Explain the rationale of how the hypothesis or objective(s) address the need identified in the prior section on need analysis

3. Describe specific goals including existing data/infrastructure that support the specific aims 

4. Elaborate on how specific aims verify hypothesis or achieve objective

5. Explain how goals align with key performance indicators.

4. Approach (≤5 pages)

a.  Intervention: Study Design/Program Design/Educational Material

1. Describe study design/program design/material

2. Explain why these are best suited to address the overall purpose of this proposal

3. Describe methods how preliminary data were obtained or existing programs developed or material was designed

4. Include methods of statistical and/or qualitative analyses to determine the effect of the intervention on DEI using key performance indicators.

b.  Anticipated Outcome, Evaluations and Pitfalls

1. Describe how success of project is assessed focusing on the key performance indicators

2. Discuss alternatives

c.  Multiple PI/Institutions/Programs

if applicable

1. Describe the benefit of the collaborative approach

2. Clearly delineate responsibilities of each member of the study team. 

3. Describe communication and coordination

4. Authorship plan for dissemination of results

5. Budget

The budget must provide sufficient details to fully explain and justify the resources needed to accomplish all specific aims

a.  Supplies

b.  Salaries

c. Commercial IRB

d.  Indirect costs: 10%

6. Appendices

a.  Bibliography

b.  CV of key personnel

c. Letter of Support from senior administrator or school administrative champion

d. IRB

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

The application has two components: content that will be submitted via question prompts in Submittable and content that should be uploaded as a single combined PDF document in Submittable. 

TO BE COMPLETED IN SUBMITTABLE

Applicant Institution

Institution Contact / Principal Investigator

• This individual will be responsible for submitting the application and will receive notifications regarding application status.

Institution’s Authorized Representative 

• This individual or office contact has responsibility for reviewing and signing contracts and is usually an organization’s contracts or grants administrator.

Acknowledgement of non-commercialization

• As part of NBME’s philanthropic programs, the Emerging Innovators Grant Program supports the medical education and assessment communities to drive future innovations. The Program is not intended to support work to develop commercialized assessment products or services. The Emerging Innovators Grant Program selection committee will not consider any such proposals for funding. 

Abstract (350 word maximum)

• Describe the specific aims of the proposed project as well as any other applicable long-term objectives. Include a brief description of the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals. Address how this proposal meets the theme of this year’s call for application.
• Write in plain language, so a reviewer without a research background will be able to understand the importance of the project.

DOCUMENT UPLOAD

Please upload a single PDF which combines the following documents together.

1. Program Description. (Maximum of 6 pages.) 
2. Proposal Budget. (See attached template.)
3. Detailed Project Timeline. (Maximum of 1 page.)
4. Curriculum Vitae from each member of the team.
5. Existing IRB approvals or any IRB applications in process, as applicable.
6. Letter(s) of Support from institutional leadership. 

1. Program Description

• Describe your proposed project according to the prompts below. The description should be double spaced and written in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. If references are cited, this will not be considered part of the page count.  (Maximum of 6 pages.)

 Introduction

• Why is the topic important to medical education assessment? 
• How does the project impact issues related to diversity, equity, and/or inclusion?
• Please cite literature on what is already known about the topic and how this identifies the existing gap.
• A clear statement of hypothesis (if a research study) or a clear description of project scope and purpose (if an implementation project).

 Methods/Materials

• Description of a methodology that is appropriate to the question(s) or project plan. 
• A clear and detailed study design / implementation plan including elements such as: a description of population to be studied or involved, the types of instruments or techniques planned for measurement with a rationale, including any validity evidence for the instruments selected, and if instruments or materials are to be developed, how this is feasible for the scope and timetable of the project. 

 Evaluation/Analysis

• An evaluation plan that is appropriate for the study design and one that links to the anticipated outcomes and results.
• Rationale for the evaluation(s) or statistical methods selected. 

 Anticipated Outcomes and Results

• Discussion of the anticipated primary and any relevant secondary outcomes and how they will contribute to greater diversity, equity, and/or inclusion in medical education assessment. 

 Collaboration and Mentoring

• A description of the proposed mentor/mentee relationship(s). Explain what each will bring to the project and/or will gain during the project.
• Explain how you will involve diverse stakeholders (e.g., organizations, students, educators, perspectives) in this process (if applicable).

 Future steps

• Description of the next steps (for example, scale up or further funding potential), generalized use of the project results or findings, or potential integration into other learning settings. 

 Citations

• Use any format for reference citations.
• This section does not count toward the program description page limit.

 2. Budget 

• Please use the template to create a clear breakdown of the budget, including itemized expenses and justification for each cost. Indirect costs may not exceed 10% of the total requested grant amount. 

 3. Detailed Timeline 

• Please include a project plan outlining key milestones, activities and deliverables, preferably as visual timeline. The timeline should not exceed one page. 

 4. Curriculum Vitae

• Please include a current CV for each member of the research team.

 5. Existing IRB approvals or any IRB applications in process

• Please include any documents related to IRB application or approval.

 6. Letter(s) of Support

• Please include one or more letter(s) of support from institutional leadership (Division/Department Director, Dean, other program leader, etc.) for the project and for endorsement of the PI’s involvement in the project. 

 PROPOSAL EVALUATION 

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following factors:

• Thematic alignment to the call for proposals.  
• The potential to address at least one outcome related to DEI in medical education.  
• Feasibility of achieving the project’s intended aims, including demonstration of the appropriate skill level of the proposed team, available technology, mentorship, resources, and program evaluation plan.  
• Potential for meaningful impact at the institution and beyond, including scalability within medical education. 
• Collaboration among departments (disciplines), faculty members, or institutions. Additional consideration will be given to collaborations that include meaningful roles for medical students, residents, fellows and/or individuals who are underrepresented in medicine (including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, learning ability, and first-generation or socioeconomic status).  

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR COMPLETED PROPOSAL 

All documents to be uploaded should be in PDF format and submitted as one document. You are required to submit both a blinded and an identified copy of your proposal. Blinded versions should redact or omit any identifying names of individuals and institutions.

All submissions are due by Monday, July 1, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern US)

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email NBMEInnovatorsGrant@nbme.org.