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New Jersey Family Medicine Research Network

The New Jersey Family Medicine Research Network acknowledges the Cancer Institute of New Jersey for its support.

What is the New Jersey Family Medicine Research Network (NJFMRN)?

The NJFMRN was created in 2001 by the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians Foundation (NJAFP/F). The Network is currently comprised of 200 family physician members, practicing out of 90 offices, and takes care of 500,000 patients. Currently, the network is a collaborative effort between the Department of Family Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School , New Jersey Medical School, School of Osteopathic Medicine , Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians.

Vision

The vision of the NJFMRN is to become a premier Practice-Based Research Network and a tremendous resource to the practicing family physicians of NJ.

Mission

The mission of this primary care practice-based research network is to establish a community of practice for creating and managing knowledge that informs, serves, and improves primary care practices and the health of their patients in New Jersey . The NJFMRN must bring meaningful, added value to its participating membership.

Why is Practice-Based Research Important?

Most clinical research takes place in medical centers dominated by specialty care. Yet clinical problems seen in primary care offices rarely proceed to the point of hospitalization or special care.

During any month, out of 1000 adults 327 seek medical care and less than 1 enter an academic medical center. Most information comes from research on this small group of hospitalized patients. As a result, the daily phenomena of front-line clinical practice remains neglected, yet deserves careful scrutiny. This area of medicine holds a host of opportunities to improve care for virtually everyone. And that's what NJFMRN aims to do.

Practice-Based Research Networks as Laboratories for Primary Care

An organization such as NJFMRN-a practice-based research network-is vital to the growth of primary care medicine. It provides the following capabilities:

•  Captures the health care events that characterize primary care in community-based patient populations

•  Provides access to the practice experience and care provided by full-time primary care physicians · Focuses its activities on practice-relevant research questions; applies appropriate, multi-method research design; and generally avoids the tendency to permit research methods to define the question

•  Strives to involve network clinicians in defining research questions, participating in study design and interpreting study results.

Why Should the NJFMRN Interest You As a Practicing Clinician?

•  Do you miss talking about clinical issues?

•  Do you miss indulging some of that submerged medical student curiosity?

•  Do you get tired of others telling you how you should practice?

•  Do you hear others question the value of family practice?

•  Do you feel isolated, frustrated and angry?

•  Do you need inexpensive CME credit?

•  Do you want to have fun?

Additional Benefits of Participation in the NJFMRN to Clinicians, Educators, Researchers and Other Research Organizations

•  Opportunities for authorship and active participation in writing papers. The extent of your involvement is limited only by your time and interest.

•  Opportunity to expose residents to primary care research and assist in meeting educational research requirements.

•  Opportunity for collaboration with community-based or academic researchers.

•  Opportunity to have assistance in efficient implementation of primary care research studies.

Statement from Robert Pallay, MD, founding board member and first Medical Director

While a medical student at Northwestern University in early 1970 I became interested in Family Medicine. After coming back east and finishing my residency at Somerset Medical Center I went into private practice and have been practicing for over 27 years. As a Family Doctor, I am dedicated to treating the whole patient within the context of the family, incorporating proven as well as the state of the art medications and techniques. In my role as Medical Director of the RWJ/UMG PCC at Hillsborough, I have worked to bring patient care as well as patient involvement in their care to a higher level.

In my many years in practice I have become involved in various aspects of pharmaceutical and academic research. I participated in ASPN (Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network) until it disbanded in 1999 and am currently involved in the AAFP ( American Academy of Family Physicians) National Network for Family Practice and Primary Care Research. In addition, I have been active in the Public Health sector of medicine in New Jersey and nationally and see a great need for increased involvement of the family physician in that sector of medicine and society.

As Founder and Medical Director of the New Jersey Family Medicine Research Network my dream has been to not only assist the family doctors in surviving financially in a managed care world but to also help them to continue to provide the highest level of medical care. I hope to continue to expose and offer all participating physicians involvement in all aspects of research. One of my many goals for the Network is to encourage physicians to collaborate with each other on not only maintaining but also improving the delivery of family medicine to their patients. All participating physicians will be updated as needed on GCP's (Good Clinical Practices), FDA and HIPAA Regulations. We plan to have an annual Convocation exposing physicians and support staff to "Research Mentors" and practicing physicians across the country. As Medical Director I urge you to share your ideas with not only myself but also your very dedicated colleagues.

© 2004 ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON MEDICAL SCHOOL, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, 675 HOES LANE, PISCATAWAY, NJ 08854