1. Leaving the Ivory Tower, Crossing the Moat and Engaging the Community
Family Medicine at
The University of Chicago
April 30, 2008
Bernard Ewigman, MD MPSH
Professor & Chair

2. Founding President of the University of Chicago
“Ours is an institution whose aim it shall be to push forward the boundaries of science, one from which announcements may be sent …so potent in their meaning as to stir the whole civilized world.”
—William Rainey Harper, 1891
Founding President
of the University of Chicago

4. Pushing Forward the Boundaries of Science
Discovery of REM sleep
Established blood banking
First living donor transplant
Defined estrogen receptors
Identified genetic etiology of cancer

5. Leading to…. 81 recipients of the Nobel Prize
$232 million in NIH funding in FY 08
Ranked fifth in NIH funding per capita
Medical school faculty
-58% researchers
-spending 50% to 100% time doing research

6. ….as one of the 18 best hospitals in the United States… the only Illinois hospital ever included in the honor roll
                                             

7. Current President of the University of Chicago
“The University of Chicago, from its very inception, has been driven by a singular focus on inquiry…with a firm belief in the value of open, rigorous, and intense inquiry and a common understanding that this must be the defining feature of this university.”
Robert Zimmer, PhD
Presidential Inauguration Speech
2006

8. Department of Family Medicine
Created administratively in 1998
Funded by a large foundation grant in 2000
Founding Chair recruited in 2002 (Ewigman)
First faculty member recruited 2003 (Hickner)

9. Success Strategies of the Department of Family Medicine
Set a high bar for faculty recruitment
Distinction trumps size
Find the overlap between the vision and needs of the institution & the department
4. Work across disciplinary boundaries
Identify our special strengths/niche
Engage the community

10. Set a high bar for faculty recruitment Distinction trumps size
4 regular faculty; 3 part-time faculty
All family physicians, 6 with masters degrees
In the Annual Department Report:
14 grants and contracts
23 peer reviewed publications, most reporting original research
9 books or book chapters
AOA Teacher of the Year

11. Special Contributions of the Department of Family Medicine
Licensing Council on Medical Education citations for poor ambulatory care education, lack of family medicine
Developed family medicine core clerkship based exclusively with community preceptors, now the most highly ranked clerkship in the third year.

12. Special Contributions of the Department of Family Medicine
2. University of Chicago learned that they would lose their Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Fellowship in 2002
Ewigman lead a multi-disciplinary team to create a successful Primary Care Clinical Scholars research fellowship with multiple funding streams, including Title VII

13. Special Contributions of the Department of Family Medicine
3. Helped get NIH - CTSA application funded on second round
Ewigman led the development of the “Urban Health Initiative” as the core community engagement activity, a more robust “Community Translational Science Cluster”, and a “Knowledge Translation Unit”
Hickner led the development of the “Practice Based Research Unit”

14. Urban Health Initiative
What: A collaboration of multiple providers on the South Side of Chicago to form a coordinated network of care through partnerships.
Why:• To improve the long-term health of a community that ranks among the least healthy in the developed world.
How:• Reorganizing care in a way that optimizes every provider’s expertise and ensures we all play the right role at the right time.

15. Key Intellectual Domains
Genomics, personalized medicine and systems biology
Cancer biology, Evolutionary biology, Neuroscience
Computation, quantitative biology and bioinformatics
Molecular engineering, nano-medicine and device technology
Imaging, Immunology, Gastrointestinal disease
Urban Health Initiative

16. Institute for Translational Medicine NIH funded CTSA at the U of C
The primary “community of engagement” is the primary service area of the U of C Medical Center, the “target community of the Urban Health Initiative”.
A primary goal of the ITM is to engage in research that is relevant to our Community, build trust through a bi-directional process, and to translate new medical knowledge into our Community to improve health and health care

17. Challenges
-Loss of foundation funding, becoming more dependent on institutional funding
-Establishing clinical practices beyond CHCs
-Establishing a residency program

18. Value to Academic Family Physicians and Leaders in Other Institutions
Helping to solve institutional challenges can create value for departments
Understanding the institutional culture, values and priorities, and identifying a niche creates opportunities
Engaging in the community, through practice, teaching and research, can add value, even to the “castles” of academic medical centers