UT-Houston Medical School Receives Federal Grant

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston has received a three-year, $1.247 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The grant will support the two-year joint primary care fellowship in the Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine.

The award is the result of a collaborative effort between the departments of family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics, as well as the medical school and The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston. Dr. Linda Z. Nieman, vice chair for educational affairs and fellowship director for the Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine, is the project leader. Dr. Eric Thomas, general internal medicine, and Dr. Lynnette Mazur, general pediatrics, are co-directors.

The fellowship program aims to recruit, train and graduate generalist physician fellows who demonstrate the skills necessary for pursuing and teaching primary care clinical research in academic primary care settings, eventually awarding a master's degree in public health.

"One of the things that most inhibits generalists in their careers is their ability to conduct research that's applicable to their field," Dr. Nieman said. "Generalists have really excelled in teaching and patient care, but research has traditionally been the weakest link."

As part of the fellowship's curriculum, all fellowship participants are required to participate in a collaborative distance-learning initiative between UT-Houston Medical School and Houston-area middle schools, sharing their knowledge of health topics with adolescents.

The program's faculty, which is composed of members of the medical school and the UT-Houston School of Public Health faculties, is busy conducting hands-on training with the budding researchers and planning conferences for the students to attend and, hopefully, present their research.

"The institutional support we have, combined with the collaboration of two schools, really impressed the people who award the grants in Washington. This proves how departments and, in fact, entire schools can work together to accomplish something valuable," Dr. Nieman said.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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