Umeå University gets national research school in family medicine

Lindholm has together with Associate Professor Olov Rolandsson prepared the plans and application, which is signed by Umeå University's Vice-Chancellor Göran Sandberg.

Units for family medicine at three universities - Umeå, Linköping and Gothenburg - have formed a network to facilitiate the national research school. During the first year (2010), the school will admit 20 PhD students and then 10 annually. Faculty at the three universities include 10 professors, 23 senior lecturers and 16 other teachers (mainly with a PhD). The network has a total of 86 candidates for this education, of which 45 already admitted PhD students and 41 to be admitted within the next year. In addition, Students in family medicine from
the other three universities (Lund, Uppsala, and Karolinska) will be encouraged to apply.

The main aim of the research school is to develop and strengthen capacity for research training in family medicine through efficient multi-disciplinary collaboration in research. The specific aims of the research school are:• To secure a new generation of excellent researchers in family medicine• To secure an excellent international standard of family medicine research training in Sweden• To provide a creative and sustainable environment for family medicine research in Sweden• To stimulate exchange between family medicine research students nationally and internationally
• To stimulate both multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration

All three universities have long experience of giving courses in research methodology. The emphasis in 2010–11 will be on developing four new courses to add value and widen the scope of the research school. The courses are in the areas of consultation, implementation, evidence and decision making, and screening and prevention of chronic diseases.
The research school will be governed by members from the three universities, the County Councils, and international researchers and teachers. The steering committee includes Dr Stuart Spencer, who is a senior editor at the British medical journal The Lancet. A coordinator at each university will be responsible for the local operations. The universities will fund the director of the research school. The administration during the five years will be funded by Umeå University. The County Councils corresponding to the three universities have promised to fund their PhD students by local or common funds at least 25% of working time.

In contrast to the clinical proportion of primary care, only one percent of all medical research is produced in family medicine. This is partly explained by family medicine being a young medical speciality; the first professorship was established in 1981. Increased research activity is thus needed in primary care, where a rapidly growing part of health care is delivered. Another explanation could be that general medical researchers begin their doctoral studies relatively late in his career, which means short time to start the project and run teams.

The Research School at Umeå University will focus on family medicine research. The other four schools that will receive financing by the Swedish Research Council are: Karolinska Institute (general clinical research and psychiatry), University of Gothenburg (psychiatry) and Linköping University (general clinical medicine).

The research schools will be allocated a total SEK 15 million each, over a five year period. Their impact on clinical research in Sweden will be evaluated after this period.

For more information, please contact:
Professor Lars Hjalmar Lindholm, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University Mobile +46 70-692 35 26
E-mail: larsh.lindholm@fammed.umu.se