Advocating for Protected Nonclinical Time for Family Medicine Residency Faculty
The following guidelines—containing articles and modules—comprise a toolkit STFM created to advocate for protected nonclinical time for faculty in family medicine residency programs.
Key Guidelines, Articles, and Modules
Guidelines for Protected Nonclinical Time
The following guidelines for family medicine faculty were created by a task force convened by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) and have been endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP), the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM), the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD), NAPCRG, and STFM.
- Joint Guidelines for Protected Nonclinical Time for Faculty in Family Medicine Residency Programs
Griesbach S, Theobald M, Kolman K, et al. Joint Guidelines for Protected Nonclinical Time for Faculty in Family Medicine Residency Programs. Fam Med. 2021;53(6):443-452. https://doi.org/10.22454/FamMed.2021.506206.
Articles Supporting Protected Nonclinical Time
The following articles contain helpful information and research to back a case for protected time for nonclinical work for faculty at family medicine residency programs.
- Jarrett JB, Griesbach S, Theobald M, Tiemstra JD, Lick D. Nonclinical Time for Family Medicine Residency Faculty: National Survey Results. PRiMER. 2021;5:45. https://doi.org/10.22454/PRiMER.2021.338005
- Theobald M. STFM Advocates for Protected Nonclinical Time for Residency Faculty. Ann Fam Med. 2019;17(5):467-468. doi:10.1370/afm.2455
- Pollart, Susan M. MD, MS; Novielli, Karen D. MD; Brubaker, Linda MD, MS; Fox, Shannon PhD; Dandar, Valerie MA; Radosevich, David M. PhD; Misfeldt, Michael L. PhD. Time Well Spent: The Association Between Time and Effort Allocation and Intent to Leave Among Clinical Faculty. Academic Medicine 90(3):p 365-371, March 2015. | DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000000458
- Shanafelt T, Goh J, Sinsky C. The Business Case for Investing in Physician Well-being. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177(12):1826–1832. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.4340
STFM Online Course: Advocating Within Your Health System
Faculty may need to demonstrate the need for health system change by building a business case with costs and benefits that clearly support their request. Protected time for nonclinical work is highly correlated with faculty retention and scholarly output for the institution. This free STFM online course includes two parts/modules that approximately 1 hour each. The course gives practical examples & tips of how to target your messaging to decision makers within your health health system.
STFM Protected Faculty Time Initiative
An STFM task force, with support and representation from the Association of Departments of Family Medicine and the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, has developed national guidelines defining the amount of time needed by faculty to meet the non-clinical requirements of residency programs. This is in response to a national trend toward maximizing clinical productivity of faculty, which reduces the amount of time available teach and to meet administrative responsibilities and accreditation requirements. The guidelines were published in 2021.The task force was chaired by Simon Griesbach, MD, assistant director of Waukesha Family Medicine Residency, Waukesha, WI.Specifically, the task force was asked to:
- Develop the Joint Guidelines for Protected Non-Clinical Time for Faculty in Family Medicine Residency Programs
- Make recommendations for dissemination of those guidelines
- Publish the guidelines in a peer-reviewed publication
- Publish the guidelines in publications targeted at hospital administration
- Present or identify speakers to present the guidelines at conferences
- Appeal to the ACGME for changes in its requirements
- Chair: Simon Griesbach, MD, Waukesha Family Medicine Residency, Waukesha, WI
- Glenn Dregansky, DO, WMU Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine Family Medicine Residency, Battle Creek, MI
- Winfred Frazier, MD, MPH, UTMB Health Family Medicine Residency Program, Galveston, TX
- Louanne Friend, PhD, MN, RN, College of Community Health Science/Institute for Rural Health Research, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
- Sarah Holder DO, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Atlantic City, NJ
- Karyn Kolman, MD, University of Arizona
- Gregory Lewis, MD, California Hospital Medical Center Family Medicine Residency, Los Angeles, CA
- Michelle Roett, MD, MPH, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC
- Kim Stutzman, MD, Family Medicine Residency of Idaho - Nampa
- Mary Theobald, MBA, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
