§ 57.1604 - What requirements must a proj-ect meet?

(a) General requirements. A project supported under this subpart must meet the following requirements:

(1) Each project must have a project director who works at the grantee institution or training site institution, has relevant training and experience, and has been approved by the Secretary to direct the project.

(2) Each project must have an appropriate administrative and organizational plan and appropriate faculty, staff, and facility resources for the achievement of stated objectives.

(3) Each project must systematically evaluate the educational program including trainees and faculty preceptors, the administration of the program and the degree to which program and educational objectives are met.

(4) Each project, other than a faculty development project, must use ambulatory care settings where family medicine is practiced and in which an adequate portion of the clinical training is conducted.

(5) Each project, other than a faculty development project, must have a family medicine curriculum which:

(i) Is appropriate for the academic level of the trainees and the specific length and nature of the educational program;

(ii) Supplements any practical (including clinical) experiences with related education activities; and

(iii) Emphasizes subjects pertinent to:

(A) Ambulatory care;

(B) Psychosocial skills and topics; and

(C) Related nonclinical areas relevant to the practitioner of family medicine.

(b) Additional requirements for predoctoral training programs. In addition to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, projects for predoctoral training programs must also meet the following additional requirements:

(1) The training program must be sponsored and supervised by an appropriate administrative unit in family medicine, the faculty of which participates in the preparation of the preclerkship curriculum and required courses and activities, for which faculty may be interdisciplinary, such as physical diagnosis and clinical pathological conferences, and which coordinates the predoctoral offering of clerkships and other clinical experiences oriented to family medicine.

(2) Each training program must be part of an integrated institutional strategy to provide education and training in family medicine designed to encourage an appropriate percentage of its graduates, annually, to seek graduate training in family medicine and eventually to enter a career in family medicine.

(3) For projects which include preceptorships in family medicine:

(i) The project must provide medical (M.D. or D.O.) students with ambulatory care training in a community setting.

(ii) Preceptors must have practices which are consistent with the principles of family medicine and must be selected by the administrative unit in family medicine.

(iii) Stipend support from grant funds may be given to trainees who are not receiving academic credit for the preceptorship only if they (A) need it; (B) indicate an interest in working in the field of family medicine; and (C) engage in the preceptorship full time for at least 4 consecutive weeks. Stipend support from grant funds may be given to trainees who are receiving academic credit for the preceptorship only when the three conditions above are met and, additionally, when the trainee incurs extraordinary living expenses due to participation in the preceptorship.

(4) For projects for student assistantships:

(i) A family medicine faculty member of the administrative unit, identified under paragraph (b)(1) of this section, must supervise each student assistant.

(ii) The grantee must give preference in admission to the training program to applicants considering a career in academic family medicine.

(iii) Stipend support from grant funds may be given to trainees who are not receiving academic credit for the assistantship only if they (A) need it; (B) indicate an interest in working in the field of family medicine; and (C) engage in the assistantship full time for at least 8 consecutive weeks. Stipend support from grant funds may be given to trainees who are receiving academic credit for the assistantship only when the three conditions above are met and, additionally, when the trainees incurs extraordinary living expenses, due to participation in the assistantship.

(c) Additional requirements for graduate training projects (except faculty development). In addition to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, projects for approved or accredited residency training programs must meet the following additional requirements:

(1) Each program must have a supervisor of training with appropriate experience and training who is responsible for coordination and supervision of training in the program.

(2) Each program must use an appropriate resident or intern recruitment and selection process which assures that residents and interns in the program have applied specifically for training in the approved graduate training program.

(3) Each program must provide education for a sufficient number of interns or residents to provide an adequate collegial environment for the educational program and to enhance cost efficiency.

(4) Each program must have an adequate number of qualified faculty with training and experience in family medicine, behavioral sciences, and liaison specialties, for the number of interns or resident in the program. The faculty of the program must engage in periodic educational activities to improve their teaching skills.

(5) Each program must provide an appropriate amount of clinical training for each intern or resident in ambulatory care settings emphasizing family medicine in each year of the training program. This training will be for the purpose of assuring an adequate education in the principles of the practice of family medicine throughout the program. In addition, each training program must provide clinical training in other ambulatory care settings relevant to family medicine, such as emergency units.

(6) Each program must have adequate facilities for the provision of the educational activities and, in particular, have family medicine ambulatory care space sufficient to provide an adequate clinical experience for the interns or residents.

(7) Each intern or resident must serve a sufficient number of families and individual patients with a variety of health care needs to provide the trainee with a broad clinical experience.

(d) Additional requirements for faculty development programs. (1) Each project must have a curriculum which:

(i) Directly applies to family medicine training programs;

(ii) Emphasizes improvement of pedagogical skills for clinical and classroom settings; and

(iii) Uses didactic and nondidactic teaching strategies.

(2) Only physicians who teach or intend to teach in family medicine are eligible to participate as trainees in the program.

(3) Each program must have a sufficient number of trainees participating during the conduct of any educational activities to provide a collegial environment and to make the program cost efficient.

(4) Stipend support from grant funds may be no longer than 24 cumulative months for any trainee.

(5) To be eligible for financial assistance from grant funds, a trainee must:

(i) Intend to teach in family medicine training program on a full-time basis; and

(ii) Be a full-time participant in the training program for at least 3 months.