STFM Collaboratives: Explanation and How to Join
On STFM CONNECT, our member community platform, members have the opportunity to join groups called collaboratives related to their specific professional interests or focuses.
What Are STFM Collaboratives?
STFM CONNECT features STFM collaboratives, which are topic-specific STFM communities that develop national curriculum on specific topics, host webinars, apply for project funding, and more objectives.As part of being an STFM member, you can join whichever collaboratives are of interest to you.
How to Join a Collaborative
Look through the list of STFM collaboratives below. If you're interested in joining one, click the button below to begin the process. Email Emily Nitcher, Membership Engagement Manager, at enitcher@stfm.org with questions.
What Is STFM CONNECT?
STFM CONNECT is our member-driven community platform where family medicine educators discuss important topics related to the specialty, ask questions related to pressing challenges, share upcoming events or career development opportunities, and collaborate on projects.
All STFM Collaboratives
Abortion Training and Access Collaborative
Joining this collaborative requires an invitation.
Addictions Collaborative
Promoting addiction treatment education in family medicine residencies, as well as prevention and treatment of substance use disorders in model units.
Artificial Intelligence in Education Collaborative
Serves as a dedicated platform for educators, researchers, and enthusiasts to come together, exchange ideas, and explore the possibilities of AI in education. By pooling our collective expertise and resources, we create a space that nurtures innovation and drives positive change in the way we educate and empower future generations.
Care of Infants, Children, and Adolescents Collaborative
Promoting idea exchange/collaboration on child health training in family medicine clerkships and residencies by faculty, residents, and students.
Caring for and Supporting People with Disabilities Collaborative
Improving the health care of persons with disabilities by developing educational materials for health care providers, providing advocacy at all levels of government, doing research; and creating medical centers of excellence that are accessible, provide needed accommodations, and support for persons with disabilities and their caregivers, and increasing the number of physicians with disabilities by providing support for current medical students, residents, and practicing physicians with disabilities and increasing the number of students with disabilities accepted by US medical schools.
Competency-Based Medical Education Assessment (CBME) Collaborative
A shared space to disseminate materials developed by past, current, and future course participants as well as collate materials created within STFM around best practices for family medicine resident/residency assessment.
Ethics and Humanities Collaborative
Sharing resources and fostering collaboration around ethics and humanities research, teaching, and clinical work.
Evidence-Based Medicine Collaborative
Developing and disseminating materials for obtaining skills to practice and teach evidence-based medicine.
Faculty Development Collaborative
Identifying existing resources from established faculty development efforts and sharing them throughout family medicine in an efficient manner as well.
Family and Behavioral Health Collaborative
Serving as a forum for the discussion, collaboration, and communication on issues relevant to family systems and behavioral health within family medicine.
Family-Centered Perinatal Care Collaborative
Keeping family medicine invested in perinatal care, standardizing procedural assessment forms, and creating a toolkit for new residency and fellow graduates.
Global Health Educators Collaborative
Promoting understanding and teaching of family medicine throughout the world and strengthening collaborations to advance global development.
HIV and Viral Hepatitis Collaborative
Promotes the teaching of HIV and Viral Hepatitis curricula in family medicine residencies, AOCs and fellowships.
Home-Based Primary Care Collaborative
Facilitates the sharing of each other's experiences and resources to enhance the teaching and providing of home-based primary care within our family medicine residencies.
Hospital and Procedural Training Collaborative
Improving patient care by defining and promoting the provision of procedural and hospital care by family physician.
Integrative Medicine Collaborative
A community of participants and leaders actively sharing resources and best practices that promote the inclusion of evidence-based integrative medicine into family medicine education and practice.
LGBTQ Health Collaborative
Increasing awareness, comfort, knowledge, and skills among family medicine faculty and related educators regarding health issues impacting LGBTQ people.
Medical Student Education Collaborative (FM-PDN)
Encouraging and supporting medical student education faculty and leaders; houses the vibrant discussions of the previous FM-PDN listserve.
Minority and Multicultural Health Collaborative
Increasing the number of underrepresented-in-medicine (URM) faculty, including those with leadership positions in academic family medicine and the number of URM FM students and residents.
MSE Academic Coordinators and Administrators Collaborative
Planning of the track and facilitating better communication and organization of the collaborative's activities at the STFM Conference on Medical Student Education.
Musculoskeletal and Sports Medicine Education Collaborative
Serves as a resource on sports medicine topics for all STFM members and helps programs integrate a longitudinal experience in sports medicine into residency.
New Faculty in Family Medicine Collaborative
Providing support and mentoring for new family medicine faculty members.
Nutrition and Lifestyle Collaborative
Promoting, developing, and disseminating medical nutrition and lifestyle education, with incorporation of innovative teaching, research, and mentoring.
Osteopathic Collaborative
Disseminating information about obtaining and maintaining osteopathic recognition, developing osteopathic curriculum, and collaborating on osteopathic research.
Pharmacist Faculty Collaborative
Provide support and networking for pharmacist faculty and residents practicing in family medicine and resources on pharmacotherapy curricula to family medicine residency programs.
Planetary Health Collaborative
Improving collective understanding of planetary and environmental health in family medicine. Leveraging collaboration with national and international organizations, this group fosters curricular development about climate change and health, promotes sustainable healthcare delivery, and nurtures advocacy for environmental and climate justice.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Collaborative
A community of point-of-care ultrasound enthusiasts promoting the exchange of ideas and collaborating on teaching POCUS in family medicine clerkships and residencies by faculty, residents, and students.
Practice Management Collaborative
Effectively collaborating and sharing experiences and resources to advance practice management in family medicine nationally, while illustrating best practices and teaching our residents how to best practice family medicine.
Primary Care and Public Health Integration Collaborative
Embracing the vision of a future health care system where primary care clinicians and public health professionals work together in new, collaborative ways.
Professional Well-Being Collaborative
Provide a venue to share best practices for identifying, preventing, and treating professional burnout, especially among resident and faculty physicians.
Interested in Being a Collaborative Leader?
Collaboratives follow a tri-leader model (immediate past chair, current chair, and incoming chair) and have the option to establish a steering committee for better continuity and smooth leadership transitions.If you are interested in chairing a collaborative, you must first be a member of the collaborative. You can then reach out to current leadership expressing your interest in serving in a leadership role.
Interested in Starting Your Own Collaborative?
In order to start a new collaborative, you must submit the names and email addresses of 30 interested STFM members, along with the scope of the work and goals of the new collaborative. Email this information to Emily Nitcher, Membership Engagement Manager, at enitcher@stfm.org.
Ready to Join?
Join an STFM Collaborative and participate in crucial conversations related to academic family medicine.
JOIN A COLLABORATIVE TODAYCollaborative Awards
Family and Behavioral Health Collaborative
Deborah Taylor Mid-Career Award
This annual award recognizes the contributions of an STFM member demonstrating a commitment to fostering connection, collaboration and community among those in the field of behavioral science in primary care. Qualified candidates will have a demonstrable history of encouraging, mentoring and contributing to the development of early career behavioral scientists. Award recipients will have contributed to multiple areas of behavioral science (research, program development, administration, clinical, committee work, etc.). The award winner is considered an advocate for the promotion of behavioral science and demonstrates a personal and academic commitment to fostering resilience.
This award is named after Dr Deborah Taylor who demonstrates leadership, advocacy and contribution to family and behavioral science as well as an enduring passion for the education, mentoring and support for early career behavioral scientists in the primary care residency setting.
Award Winners
- 2026: Katherine Fortenberry, PhD
- 2025: Molly Clark, PhD
- 2024: Carlie Nikel, PsyD
- 2023: Katherine Bergs, PhD, LMFT
- 2022: Terri Wall, PhD
- 2021: Sarah Dewane, PhD
- 2020: Randall Reitz, PhD
Susan McDaniel Distinguished Career Award
Established in 2015, the Susan McDaniel Distinguished Career Award recognizes the contributions of an STFM member with notable, influential, and longstanding contributions in the areas of family and behavioral sciences within one or more family medicine residency programs, departments, institutions, states, and national or international levels. The recipient of this award will have exhibited leadership, mentorship, innovation, and clear evidence of a career dedicated to advancing the relevance of family and practice of behavioral science in family medicine. Award recipients demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching, research, and/or clinical endeavors within family medicine.
This award is named after Dr Susan McDaniel, who epitomizes commitment to family and behavioral science education and practice in family medicine, advocacy, innovation, and tirelessly pushing the boundaries on the status quo without the expectation of self-gain or promotion.
Award Winners
- 2026: Amy Romain, LMSW, ACSW
- 2025: Linda Myerholtz, PhD
- 2024: Sandra Burge, PhD
- 2023: Jeff Ring, PhD
- 2022: Kathryn Fraser, PhD
- 2021: Julie Schirmer, LCSW
- 2020: Dennis Butler, PhD
- 2019: Tina Runyan, PhD
- 2018: Larry Mauksch, MEd
- 2017: Jeri Hepworth, PhD
- 2016: Susan McDaniel, PhD
