SCHOLARSHIPS

H. Winter Griffith Resident Scholarship

The H. Winter Griffith Resident Scholarship recognizes excellence in practice improvement involving patient-centered care by an outstanding family medicine resident or resident team.

Overview of the H. Winter Griffith Resident Scholarship

The H. Winter Griffith Resident Scholarship honors H. Winter Griffith, MD, who was an advocate for patient engagement through patient education. Thus, this award recognizes outstanding patient interaction, education, care, and outcomes by a resident or resident team in the family medicine medical home setting.

Scholarship Details

A $1000 scholarship will be awarded to the winning resident or resident team, along with an award certificate, and a complimentary registration (or up to two complimentary registrations will be provided for a resident team) to the Conference on Practice & Quality Improvement. The resident(s) will also be recognized at the conference, and invited to present their work as a distinguished poster.The award winner(s) will be notified in late July.

Judging Scholarship Entries

Entries will be judged on the following:

  • The extent to which the project emphasized improvements in patient centered care
  • Effectiveness or outcomes of the project
  • Feasibility of the improvement project for dissemination to other health centers or systems

How to Apply, Eligibility, and Criteria

How to Apply
Eligibility
Criteria

How to Apply

The application deadline for the H. Winter Griffith Resident Scholarship is June 30 each year.

Send the following, as a single pdf, to Melissa Abuel at mabuel@stfm.org:

  • Resident(s) name, residency program, address, email address, and phone number
  • One paragraph describing the activity (250-word maximum) for use in the conference brochure
  • A description of the quality improvement work, including the objectives and the outcomes of the project:
    • Applicant must demonstrate what performance improvement methodologies were used and include a clearly identified patient-centered problem, the “aim(s)” for improvement, and what measures were selected. 
    • Application should include how data was used. Examples: How measurements and iterative tests of change were made; tactics for change management; approach to team-based collaborative learning
    • Applicant must provide data showing meaningful patient-centered improvement over time (for instance, through the use of run charts or data tables).
  • Letter from the resident or resident team indicating a willingness to present their work as a poster at the STFM Conference on Practice & Quality Improvement
  • Letter of recommendation and support from the resident's or resident team's program director

Eligibility

Entries are limited to family medicine residents involved in quality improvement work focused on improving patient-centered care. The following items are further eligibility criteria:

  1. The practice improvement activity should document a change in:
    1. Patient knowledge, engagement, or self-management
    2. Team-based environment and systems of care
    3. Quality or safety of health care
  2. Ability to provide examples of patient-centered practice improvement activities include patient surveys, focus groups, motivational interviewing, self-management support, shared goal setting, health coaching, innovative use of media or communication technology, patient portals, e-visits, or behavior change activities

Note: Individuals who have received an award at the STFM Conference on Practice & Quality Improvement within the past 3 years are not eligible to receive this scholarship.

Scholarship Criteria

The following are the three different focus types for quality improvement work that could be awarded the scholarship.

Focus: Scope of Improvement Activity

The practice improvement activity should document a change in one of the following:

  1. Patient knowledge, engagement, or self-management
  2. Team-based environment and systems of care
  3. Quality or safety of health care

Focus: Application of PI Methodology

Applicant must demonstrate what performance improvement methodologies were used and include a clearly identified patient-centered problem, the “aim(s)” for improvement, and  what measures were selected. 

In addition, the application should include how data was used. Examples are:

  1. How measurements and iterative tests of change were made
  2. Tactics for change management
  3. Approach to team-based collaborative learning

Focus: Data Showing Improvement

Application must include data showing meaningful patient-centered improvement over time (for instance, through the use of run charts or data tables).

Past Scholarship Recipients

2022–2025
2018–2021
2014–2017
2010–2013

2022–2025 Scholars

  • 2025: Emanuel Salcedo, MD, University of California San Francisco Valley Health Family and Community Medicine Residency
  • 2024: Ashten Duncan, MD, MPH, CPH, University of New Mexico-Santa Fe Family Medicine Residency
  • 2023: Vincent Lau, DO, Rutgers-RWJUH Somerset Family Medicine Residency Program
  • 2022: Heran Abiye MD, HCA Medical City Arlington Family Medicine

2018–2021 Scholars

  • 2021: Resident Team, Riverside University Health System/University of California, Riverside, Moreno Valley, CA
  • 2020: Teena Dcruz, MD, Mount Carmel Health Systems, Westerville, OH
  • 2019: Andrew Telzak, MD, Montefiore Medical Center
    Team: Yu (Jen) Lun, MD, Ashley Meyr, MD, Deanna Chavez, MD, Saint Louis University-Family Medicine Residency, St Louis, MO
  • 2018: Team: Oluwaseun Acquah, MD and Amanda Honsvall Hoefler, MD

2014–2017 Scholars

  • 2017: Team: Julie Antonova, Megan Chock, Nichole Hansen-Cruz, Peifen Sophia Hu, Joshua​ ​Wilner, Lisa Zampello​
  • 2016: Team: Jessica Bossie, MD, Nora Lamartine, MD, Ivonne McLean, MD, and Pamela Sansoucy, MD
  • 2015: Team: Lindsay Martin-Engel MD MPH, Jacqueline Allen Trenier MD MPH, Amber Grove de Alencar MD MPH. Rebecca Eary MD MPH, Naomi Nemoto MPH
  • 2014: Juan Robles, MD

2010–2013 Scholars

  • 2013: Russell Ballard, MD, MPhil
  • 2012: Jeffery Cushman, MD
  • 2011: Erik Gulbrandsen, DO
  • 2010: Ravishankar Ramaswamy, MD, MS

Questions?

For general questions about this scholarship, contact Melissa Abuel at the link below.

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