Increasing Family Medicine Research Capacity at the University of Minnesota: Publication Trends and Research Culture

With the goals of improving health care delivery, patient outcomes, and creating a more engaged workforce, there have been consistent calls over the past 2 decades for increasing research capacity within the field of family medicine. Since 2014, the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (UMN DFMCH) has implemented strategies to enhance clinical faculty research capabilities while maintaining high-quality clinical care and medical education. This study reports changes in clinical faculty publications.

Peer-reviewed publication data from 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022 were analyzed for clinical faculty employed by the UMN DFMCH during those years. An annual research culture survey was administered via e-mail to clinical faculty in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The survey asked questions regarding Research Leadership, Culture, Training, Infrastructure, and Capacity.

While 2019 had the highest total number of publications with 99, 2022 had the highest proportion of faculty with at least 1 publication (50%). In 2023, 63.6% of survey respondents thought there were opportunities for them to participate in research, up from 41.0% in 2021. When asked about their research capacity and goals, 43.5% in 2023 responded positively, compared with 19.4% in 2021.

The efforts in our department to increase research capacity through investing in research infrastructure, faculty training and mentoring, and funding have led to notable increases in clinical faculty publications and positive perceptions of our research culture. These results provide additional evidence of the value of a model that harmonizes clinical care, education and research missions.