SACME Research Grants

Phil R. Manning Research Award in Continuing Professional Development

This grant is made in the name of Phil R. Manning, MD, Paul Ingalls Hoagland Hastings Professor of Continuing Medical Education and Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Dr. Manning was the founding president of the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, formerly the Society of Medical College Directors of Continuing Medical Education. He was a governor, regent, and vice president of the American College of Physicians and served on several educational committees of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Manning was co-editor of Medicine: Preserving the Passion in the 21st Century and authored many peer-reviewed publications.

Available Funding

The Manning Grant has up to $50,000 (USD) over two years available to support scientific research. Authors are encouraged to align budget requests with project needs, leveraging existing resources where and if available.

Letters of Intent are due Monday, December 12, 2022.

Award Process 

Interested individuals are invited to submit an LOI which will be reviewed by members of the Research Committee and peers. The Research Committee chair will notify selected individuals and invite the selected candidates to submit a full-proposals. The Research Committee Chair will notify the award recipient of her/his selection. The Chair will also notify individuals whose submissions were unsuccessful and provide feedback from reviewers.

Eligibility

Please consider the following eligibility criteria:

1. Awards can only be granted to SACME members.
2. At least one member of the team must hold or have held a clinical role.
3. At least one member of the team must hold of have held a role in CME/CPD/IPE/FD/PS/KT/QI.
4. At least one member of the team must be considered a “new investigator” defined as:
   1. Students/trainees of any kind in process of acquiring professional degrees (e.g., Health Professionals, MDs, Masters, PhDs)Students/trainees of any kind in process of acquiring professional degrees (e.g., Health Professionals, MDs, Masters, PhDs)
   2. Those who have completed their professional degrees within the last 5 years (e.g., Health Professionals, MDs, Masters, PhDs)
5. At least one member of the team must hold sufficient credentials and/or experience and/or expertise related to lead or supervise the proposed project.

These criteria should be outlined as part of the submission.

Review Criteria
Presence of theoretical foundation, clarity of research question, soundness of methodological design, fit of research design and methods to the research question, and potential of the project to contribute further to the field will all be important determinants of the merits of the project.

Letter of Intent Submission Details

The Letter of Intent must be no longer than two pages, single spaced, 12 pt. font and should not contain any identifying information that could identify your name(s) or affiliated institution(s). The LOI should include a concise review of the literature, a clear statement of the research question, methodology, anticipated methods of analysis, proposed timeline, and potential impact of the work on the field. This document should be uploaded to the application site as a PDF. Identifying information will be submitted on the application site instead of within the LOI PDF. The application site will ask you to attest that your team composition meets the criteria for funding.

Budgets and curriculum vitae are not required for LOI submission.

Link to Application: https://forms.gle/9U5byrT6NU9BGwQ19

Review Criteria
The LOIs will be reviewed by members of the Scholarship Committee (or their designates) for the following features:

Timelines

Full Proposal Stage
Following review, selected teams will be invited in mid-February 2023 to submit a full proposal by April 17, 2023. The proposals will be reviewed by members of the Scholarship Committee and/or their designates. The Scholarship Committee chair will notify principal investigators of the results of their submission, along with feedback on the proposal by late May 2023. The Chair will announce the award decision publicly in June 2023.

Full Proposal Guidelines
For those LOIs selected by the Scholarship Committee, the following guidelines will apply for full proposal submissions due April 17, 2023. The final proposal, in PDF format, should be no longer than 10 pages, single spaced, 12 pt. font, and clearly include:

Note: CVs, letters of support and references are not included in the 10-page limit.

Full Proposal Review Criteria
The full proposals will be reviewed by members of the Scholarship Committee (or their designates) for the following features:

• Depth, breadth and interpretation of relevant literature.
• Relevance and clarity of research question / problem or objective.
• Use and alignment of theoretical foundations.
• Methodological alignment and rigour.
• Implications for the advancement of the field.
• Appropriateness of budget.
• Team composition and roles.
• Feasibility.

Full Proposal Submission Process
Full proposals are due on April 17, 2023. Instructions on the submission process will be emailed to all invited applicants.

Questions

Please direct any questions about the application or the grant to either Morag Paton at morag.paton@utoronto.ca or Dr. Martin Tremblay, Vice-Chair, SACME Scholarship Committee at mtremblay@fmsq.org.

Paul Mazmanian Early Career Research Grant

The Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) is committed to promoting value in patient care and health of the public through the scholarship of continuing medical and interprofessional education. To support this mission, SACME has created the Paul E. Mazmanian, PhD Research Fellowship Award for Early Career Investigators (hereafter the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award). The purpose of the Award is to enable the development of individuals working in continuing medical education (CME) and continuing professional development (CPD) and related fields who are early in their careers.

Click here for more information on Dr. Mazmanian.

The Award

The goal of the Award is to develop the scholarship capabilities of SACME members who are early in their career trajectories as CME and CPD researchers. (See item #2 under Eligibility below for the definition of early career investigator.) The applicant’s proposal is expected to meet the criteria for submission to the SACME Mazmanian Fellowship Award. The applicant whose proposal is accepted will be known as the Mazmanian Fellow during the two years of their Award.

The Mazmanian Research Fellowship Recipient will receive up to $10,000 (USD) over two years to support their research. The Award also includes free registration for the SACME Annual Meeting during the two years of the Award.

Each applicant will be expected to identify and engage a mentor to help them with their CPD scholarship activities in their local /workplace context. Successful applicants will be matched with an additional mentor, selected with input by the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award Advisory Committee (Award Advisory Committee), who will provide guidance on the implications and generalizability of applicant work from the broader CPD perspective.

Letters of Interest (LOI) for the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award will be solicited every two years. LOIs will be reviewed by members of the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award Advisory Committee. Selected individuals will be invited to submit full proposals.

Eligibility

1. Awards will only be granted to individuals who are currently and have been SACME members for at least one year.

2. Only early career investigators are eligible to receive a Mazmanian Fellowship Grant. For the purposes of the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Grant an early career investigator is defined as:

a. Students/trainees of any kind in the process of acquiring professional degrees (e.g., Health Professionals, MDs, Masters, PhDs)

b. Those who have completed their professional degrees within the last 5 years (e.g., Health Professionals, MDs, Masters, PhDs)

c. An individual who has not previously served as a principal investigator on a research project.

d. If applicable, an academic rank of Assistant Professor or lower.

3. Early career investigators must have had training in or performed in a role in one or more of the following areas:

a. Continuing Medical Education/Continuing Professional Development

b. Continuing Interprofessional Education

c. Faculty Development

d. Quality Improvement/Patient Safety

e. Knowledge Translation/Implementation Science

Letter of Intent Guidelines

Format: The LOI must (1) be no longer than two pages, (2) be single-spaced, (3) use 12 pt. font, (4) have 1-inch margins, top, bottom, and sides.

Content: The LOI must include a concise review of the literature, a clear statement of the research question, methodology, anticipated methods of analysis, proposed timeline and potential impact of the work in the field.

Applicant Eligibility: The LOI must include a description of how the new investigator meets the eligibility requirements.

Career Goals: The LOI should describe how the proposed scholarship and the award will support their career goals.

Research Team: A brief description of the role and qualifications of other investigator(s) who will work with the applicant should be provided. Biosketches are not included in the two-page LOI page count. Identifying information will be submitted on the application site instead of within the LOI PDF.

Mentor Information: Identification of a local mentor and their qualifications to guide the development of the research plan and proposal. Information on the support that would be beneficial from a second level mentor including area of expertise, time commitment and ideas for consideration for the ideal mentor for their project.

Note: A local mentor could be someone from within the applicant’s institution or an affiliated organization. A second level mentor will be an individual with research and scholarship expertise who is a SACME member.

Content: The LOI must include: a concise review of the literature, a clear statement of the research question, methodology, anticipated methods of analysis, proposed timeline and potential impact of the work in the field.

1. Clear description of the research question and its relevance to advancing the field of CME/CPD.

2. Brief review of scholarly literature that supports the need for research as described by the research question.

3. Statement describing how the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award would support the

a. development of a scientifically rigorous research plan.

b. development of a proposal that meets the criteria for submission to the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award that support the advancement of knowledge in CME/CPD and related areas .

Applicant Eligibility: The LOI must include a description of how the new investigator meets the eligibility requirements.

Career Goals: The LOI should describe how the proposed scholarship and the award will support their career goals.

A budget and curriculum vitae are not required for the LOI submission.

Letter of Intent Submission Details

LOIs are due no later than Thursday, December 1, 2022 at midnight (CST).

Link to application: https://forms.gle/B4vqoDgeCCFBQPP67

Full Proposal Stage

Full Proposals will be reviewed by the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award Advisory Committee. The Chair, Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award Advisory Committee, will notify the individual whose proposal was accepted by the committee in March, 2023. Individuals whose proposals were not accepted will be provided feedback by the committee. The Chair will announce the award decision publicly during the 2023 Annual Meeting

Full Proposal Guidelines

The final proposal, in PDF format, should (a) be no longer than 10 pages, (b) be single-spaced, (c) use 12 pt. font, (d) have 1-inch margins, top, bottom, and sides.

The proposal should include:

1. Research plan

a. Brief problem statement (350 words maximum);

b. Background statement and literature review;

c. Clear statement of the research question/objective;

d. Conceptual and/or theoretical framework;

e. Overview of methodology and detailed methods;

f. Implications for advancement of the field. Why this study is important for CME/CPD and related fields as specified in section 3 under Eligibility. This section should contextualize the study in the current literature;

g. Detailed budget with justification. Applicants are encouraged to align budget requests with project needs, leveraging existing resources where and if available.

h. Detailed timeline;

i. Feasibility statement;

j. Summary of the qualifications and role of each investigator on the project (see eligibility requirements above);

k. Curriculum vitae (CV),covering last 5 years only, for each member of the research team (not included in the 10-page limit);

l. Up to 3 letters of support; not included in the 10-page limit.

m. References.

Full Proposal Review Criteria

The full proposals will be reviewed by members of the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award Advisory Committee, who will consider the:

1. Depth, breadth, and interpretation of relevant literature

2. Relevance and clarity of research question/problem or objective

3. Use and alignment of theoretical foundations

4. Methodological alignment and rigor

5. Implications for the advancement of the field

6. Appropriateness of budget

7. Team composition and roles

8. Feasibility

Timelines

1. The request for submission of LOIs will commence on Friday, October 28, 2022.

2. LOIs are due no later than Thursday, December 1, 2022 at midnight (CST).

2. LOIs that are selected to move to full proposal stage will be notified in mid-December 2022.

3. Full proposals will be due on February 27, 2023 at midnight.

4. Decisions of the Mazmanian Research Fellowship Award Advisory Committee will be made in mid-March 2023 with funding to commence June 16, 2023.

Full Proposal Submission Process

Full proposals are due on Monday February 27, 2023. Instructions on the submission process will be emailed to invited applicants.

Questions

Please direct any questions about the application or the grant to either Asha Maharaj, Chair, SACME Research and Awards Subcommittee at asha.maharaj@camh.ca or Joyce Fried at joycemfried@gmail.com.

SACME Research Grants

The following list reflects grants that have been awarded through the grant application process. 

Year	Institution/PI	Project Title	Notes
2021/2022	Francesca Luconi McGill Hill University	Building resilience and well-being in primary care during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic: A case-study in continuing professional development	Manning Award
2019/2020	Mahan Kulasegaram University of Toronto	Supporting Self-Directed Learning and Transfer through Testing in CME	Manning Award
2017/2018	Sanjeev Sockalingam and David Wiljer University of Toronto	Data and Lifelong Learning (LLL): Understanding Cultural Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing and Using Clinical Performance Data to Support Continuing Professional Development (CPD)	Manning Award
2015/ 2016	Fahad Alam Sunnybrook Health Services Centre	Impact of acute care physician’s age on crisis management performance and learning after simulation-based education	Manning Award
2013/ 2014	Moshe Feldman VCU	Practice Based Learning to Achieve System Based Practice: An Interprofessional CE Model and Toolbox for Planned Practice Change	Manning Award
2011/ 2012	Joan Sargeant Dalhousie University	Performance feedback to inform self-assessment and guide practice improvement: Developing and testing a feedback facilitation model	Manning Award
2007/ 2008	Heather Armson University of Calgary	Practice reflections by family physicians participating in three three different practice based learning programs: Are there differences in commitment-to-change statements?	Manning Award
2006	Marisa Finlay McMaster University	Breast cancer survivors and CME in health advocacy	small grant
2005	Kevin Eva McMaster University	Examining the problem with experience: Does practice make physicians more susceptible to premature closure?	small grant
2004	Onil Bhattacharyya University of Toronto	Overcoming barriers to diabetes guideline management in remote aboriginal communities	small grant
2004	Barbara Barnes University of Pittsburgh	Improving the discussion and atribution of adverse events and medical errors: an interactive case conference	Manning Award
2004	Gary Sibbald University of Toronto	Simultaneous use of telemedicine for patient care and continuing education rounds in dermatology	small grant
2004	Sonya Lawson Virginia Commonwealth University	Use of PDAs in reflection and learning practice	large grant
2003	Gabrielle Kane University of Toronto	Examining the impact of change on professional practice	small grant
2003	Stephanie Giberson University of Manitoba	Facilitating physician learning community development [sic]	small grant
2002	Joan Sargeant Dalhousie University	Physicians' attitudes toward participating in accredited CME programs on the Internet	large grant
2001	Jocelyn Lockyer University of Calgary	Qualitative evaluation of small group learning	small grant
2000/ 2001	Yvonne Coyle University of Texas Southwestern-Dallas	Assessing physician clinical performance outcome in highly motivated learners	Manning Award
2000	Jack Kues University of Cincinnati	The value of formal CME: Physician perception [SACME Research Collaborative]	Manning Award
1999	Michael Allen Dalhousie University	Videoconferencing for problem-based small group learning	large grant
1998	Jonathan Hellman University of Toronto	[mentorship]	small grant
1997	David Bailey Marshall University	[mentorship]	small grant
1996	Jocelyn Lockyer University of Calgary	Physician use of personalized feedback to make changes in their clinical practice	small grant

Click here for all SACME awards and past recipients.