Implementation of a Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative to Support Implementation of the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain: Case Study from Nurse-Led Clinics.

PURPOSE: The authors describe a case study of a quality improvement initiative to implement the 2016 CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain2 ("2016 CDC Guideline") into nurse-led primary care practices in central Appalachia. DESIGN: In this controlled pre-post quality improvement study, a policy change, an electronic health record form, and supporting education were implemented. Knowledge change and quality improvement metrics were measured before and after implementation. DATA SOURCES: The data comprised pre- and post-knowledge survey and quality improvement metrics from the electronic health record. RESULTS: After the implementation of the chronic pain intake form and supporting training and education, marked improvements in documentation and completion of the 2016 CDC Guideline and Tennessee Clinical Practice Guideline-concordant activities were observed, suggesting an increase in compliance with guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: Quality improvement efforts that focus on opioid management best practices may be effective at enhancing 2016 CDC Guideline-concordant care in clinics, including nurse-led ones. Similar strategies could be trialed to ensure the 2022 CDC Clinical Practice Guideline recommendations for opioid and pain management are adopted effectively. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Interventions to improve opioid and pain management through quality improvement efforts require policy changes, clinician and patient education, and electronic record tools.

Retaining Faculty from Underrepresented Groups in Academic Medicine: Results from a Needs Assessment.

OBJECTIVES: Academic medical centers can improve the quality of care and address health inequities by recruiting and retaining faculty from underrepresented in medicine (URiM) groups; however, the retention of URiM faculty is a barrier to reaching equity-related goals because URiM faculty are less likely to remain in academia and be promoted compared with their peers. As such, the objective of this study was to determine factors that influence the retention of URiM faculty at large academic centers. METHODS: One-time, semistructured stay interviews were conducted to assess the experiences of URiM faculty at a large academic hospital in Boston, Massachusetts between October 2016 and April 2017. A qualitative researcher coded the transcripts and identified central themes. RESULTS: The participants (N = 17) were 65% Black/African American and 35% Hispanic/Latinx. The median number of years on faculty was 3 years (range 1-33). The themes identified through the stay interviews were grouped into three domains: areas of strength, challenges to advancement, and suggestions for improvement of support. Participants voiced leadership support in their development, the community of patients, URiM networking opportunities, and mentorship as strengths. The barriers to retention included the lack of transparency and trust in their work, a sense of tokenism, organizational management issues, and implicit biases. The suggested ways to improve support included the expanding of initiatives to include all members of groups URiM, continuing URiM faculty development programs, and increasing funding to support advancement. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscored the importance of supportive leadership, URiM-specific faculty development programs, networking opportunities, and the recognition of achievements as factors that influence the retention of faculty at a large academic medical center. In addition, participants highlighted the need for strong mentor networks and emphasizing sponsorship.

"We were building the plane as we were flying it, and we somehow made it to the other end": syringe service program staff experiences and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Syringe service programs (SSPs) provide essential harm reduction and prevention services for people who inject drugs in the USA, where SSP coverage is expanding. During the COVID-19 pandemic, US SSPs underwent unprecedented shifts in operational procedures (e.g., closures of physical sites, staff redeployment into pandemic response efforts). Given the critical role of US SSP workers in the pandemic, we sought to explore the occupational experiences and well-being of SSP staff to inform future emergency response efforts. METHODS: From July-October 2020, we conducted semi-structured interviews with staff members of four SSPs in diverse regions of Massachusetts. Trained interviewers administered qualitative interviews virtually. Interviews were coded in NVivo v12 and thematic analysis identified common occupational experiences and related impacts on staff well-being in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Among 18 participants, 12 (67%) had client-facing roles such as harm reduction specialists and six (33%) worked in program management or leadership. We found that staff were frequently anxious about SARS-CoV-2 transmission, which contributed to staff turnover. SSPs rapidly adapted and expanded their services to meet increasing client needs during the pandemic (e.g., food distribution, COVID-19 testing), leading to staff overexertion. Simultaneously, public health measures such as physical distancing led to staff concerns about reduced social connections with clients and coworkers. Through these challenges, SSPs worked to protect staff well-being by implementing flexible and tangible COVID-19-related policies (e.g., paid sick leave), mental health resources, and frequent communication regarding pandemic-related operational changes. CONCLUSION: SSPs in the USA adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic out of necessity, resulting in operational changes that threatened staff well-being. Despite the protective factors revealed in some narratives, our findings suggest that during prolonged, complex public health emergencies, SSPs may benefit from enhanced occupational supports to prevent burnout and promote wellness for this essential public health workforce.

Medical Student Leadership in the Student Oncology Society: Evaluation of a Student-Run Interest Group.

At our institution, we aim to foster interest in oncology through the Student Oncology Society (SOS). The SOS was formed in 2010 and since then has hosted numerous oncology-related events, such as career panels, patient survivorship celebrations, and movie screenings. The purpose of this study is to report the experiences from former student leaders of the SOS, particularly how their participation informed their career choice. Complete survey responses were obtained from 26 of 32 former SOS student leaders (response rate 81.3%). Out of the 26 respondents, 19 (73.1%) are pursuing an oncology-related specialty. The three most common competencies that were affected by participation in SOS, noted by 21 (80.8%) respondents, were learning about pathways to careers in oncology, understanding the multidisciplinary approach to cancer care, and coordinating events. By mean Likert score, the most important factors in career choice for respondents who eventually pursued an oncology field were having a mentor in oncology (4.44), a clinical rotation in oncology (4.31), research involvement (4.22), and SOS involvement (3.17). While SOS involvement played a role in career choice among our student leaders, having a mentor was cited to be the most important factor for choosing an oncology career. Thus, implementation of formal mentorship initiatives within the framework of oncology interest groups should be explored.

Unmet Needs Among Out of Care and Recently Diagnosed Women of Color With HIV: Opportunities for Focused Interventions.

OBJECTIVE: Women of color (WoC) have lower retention in care and higher HIV/AIDS-related morbidity, compared with other populations. Barriers to care include lack of family support, inadequate HIV/AIDS services, and stigma, and women may face greater unmet needs for services including housing and employment. This descriptive study explores the unmet needs of WoC participating in the Health Resources and Services Administration's Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program, Dissemination of Evidence Informed Interventions (HRSA/SPNS DEII) Initiative. SETTING: Six urban health clinics across the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Eligible participants were cis- or transgender women who were newly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the past 12 months, out of care for at least 6 months, or not virally suppressed. Participants enrolled from November 2016 to November 2018. MAIN OUTCOMES: Our primary outcome of interest was unmet needs at enrollment for 6 core services: housing, transportation, benefits, mental health or substance use treatment, medication assistance, and medical care. We examined differences in unmet needs stratified by participant characteristics and used multivariate regression to identify the social and health risk factors associated with higher unmet needs. RESULTS: Among the 529 WoC, the most frequently reported expressed needs were transportation (50.1%), housing (41.2%), benefits (28.2%), medication assistance (24.5%), and substance use or mental health treatment (24.3%). Participants with a significantly higher number of overall unmet needs included those who were older (40 years or older), were unstably housed, had a history of incarceration, identified as a transgender woman, were US born, had no caregiver responsibilities, and did not have a case manager at enrollment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate the importance of screening for and developing focused strategies to address the unmet needs for WoC if viral suppression is to be achieved.

"Health Is on the Back Burner:" Multilevel Barriers and Facilitators to Primary Care Among People Who Inject Drugs.

BACKGROUND: The estimated 2.2 million people who inject drugs (PWID) in the USA experience significant gaps in preventive healthcare and a high burden of infectious, psychiatric, and other chronic diseases. Many PWID rely on emergency medical services, which are costly and not designed to deliver preventive services, manage chronic conditions, or address social needs. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to explore barriers and facilitators to primary care utilization from the perspectives of PWID in New England, a region highly affected by the overdose crisis. DESIGN: Participants completed semi-structured qualitative interviews exploring substance use and healthcare utilization patterns. PARTICIPANTS: We recruited 78 PWID through community-based organizations (e.g., syringe service programs) in 16 urban and non-urban communities throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. APPROACH: Thematic analysis identified barriers and facilitators to primary care utilization at the individual, interpersonal, and systemic levels. KEY RESULTS: Among 78 PWID, 48 described recent primary care experiences; 33 had positive experiences and 15 described negative experiences involving discrimination or mistrust. Individual-level barriers to primary care utilization included perceived lack of need and competing priorities (e.g., avoiding opioid withdrawal, securing shelter beds). Interpersonal-level barriers included stigma and perceived low quality of care for PWID. Systemic-level barriers included difficulty navigating healthcare systems, inadequate transportation, long wait times, and frequent provider turnover. Participants with positive primary care experiences explained how appointment reminders, flexible hours, addiction medicine-trained providers, case management services, and transportation support facilitated primary care utilization and satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Findings regarding the multilevel barriers and facilitators to accessing primary care among PWID identify potential targets for programmatic interventions to improve primary care utilization in this population. Based on these findings, we make recommendations for improving the engagement of PWID in primary care as a means to advance individual and public health outcomes.

Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards causal directed acyclic graphs: a qualitative research project.

Causal graphs provide a key tool for optimizing the validity of causal effect estimates. Although a large literature exists on the mathematical theory underlying the use of causal graphs, less literature exists to aid applied researchers in understanding how best to develop and use causal graphs in their research projects. We sought to understand why researchers do or do not regularly use DAGs by surveying practicing epidemiologists and medical researchers on their knowledge, level of interest, attitudes, and practices towards the use of causal graphs in applied epidemiology and health research. We used Twitter and the Society for Epidemiologic Research to disseminate the survey. Overall, a majority of participants reported being comfortable with using causal graphs and reported using them 'sometimes', 'often', or 'always' in their research. Having received training appeared to improve comprehension of the assumptions displayed in causal graphs. Many of the respondents who did not use causal graphs reported lack of knowledge as a barrier to using DAGs in their research. Causal graphs are of interest to epidemiologists and medical researchers, but there are several barriers to their uptake. Additional training and clearer guidance are needed. In addition, methodological developments regarding visualization of effect measure modification and interaction on causal graphs is needed.

Implementing and Evaluating a Mentor Training to Improve Support for Early-Career Scholars in Tobacco Regulatory Science.

INTRODUCTION: To implement and evaluate a blended online and in-person training to help mentors of early-career researchers appreciate the complexities of Tobacco Regulatory Science (TRS), refine TRS mentoring skills, and become acquainted with resources for providing effective guidance to TRS mentees. METHODS: TRS mentors engaged in a two-part pilot test of the training program. Authors evaluated both the online and in-person training using retrospective pre-post evaluations, which measure learning at the conclusion of a training program, and post-program focus groups. Twenty learners completed the online training, and 16 learners attended the in-person training module. Nine participants completed evaluations for the online module, and 12 participants completed evaluations for the in-person module. RESULTS: Program assessments revealed that participants found that the training achieved its overall goals. The majority of respondents (87.5%) rated the online portion of the training as valuable. For the in-person training, participants reported statistically significant improvements regarding confidence in: helping mentees to identify skills and training to effectively pursue TRS, assisting mentees in weighing career trajectories, and guiding mentees in conducting research responsive to TRS regulatory priorities. CONCLUSIONS: The novel mentoring program was well received by faculty seeking to strengthen skills for mentoring early-career TRS researchers to navigate the complex landscape of TRS, explore diverse funding opportunities, and discern potential career trajectories. It provided unique content to address issues outside the traditional tobacco research training curriculum and offered specific information on regulatory policies, priorities, and opportunities. IMPLICATIONS: This research documents the deployment and evaluation of a blended online and in-person training program for investigators mentoring early-career researchers working in TRS. Our assessment discovered that participants found the training to be valuable to their overall mentoring objectives. The training comprises a novel curriculum for investigators engaged in mentoring early-career researchers in a unique field, thus filling a deficit in the published literature by presenting a curriculum that has been customized to the unique needs of TRS mentors.

HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for People Who Inject Drugs: The Context of Co-occurring Injection- and Sexual-Related HIV Risk in the U.S. Northeast.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are at increased risk for HIV infection through sharing contaminated needles and injection equipment, and engaging in condomless sex. Objectives: To qualitatively examine the overlapping nature of these behaviors among PWID in the US Northeast. Methods: We recruited HIV-uninfected PWID and key informants through community-based organizations. Qualitative interviews explored sexual partnerships as they related to sharing contaminated needles and injection equipment, engaging in condomless sex, and associated indications for PrEP among PWID. Results: Among 33 PWID, 66% engaged in condomless vaginal or anal sex in the past 3 months, and 27% had three or more sexual partners in this same time period. Over half engaged in any past month distributive or receptive syringe sharing (64%). We identified three contexts through which overlapping sexual and injection-related HIV risks emerged, including (1) multiple concurrent sexual partnerships; (2) using and injecting drugs with sexual partners (including increase injecting of crystal methamphetamine); and (3) exchanging sex for money or drugs (including among male PWID). Condom use was inconsistent across these contexts. Limited interactions with healthcare providers often resulted in sexual risks being overlooked in light of competing health concerns. Conclusions: Sexual risk for HIV acquisition is complex and multi-faceted among PWID yet may be overlooked by prevention and healthcare providers. Comprehensive HIV prevention efforts must acknowledge the distinct contexts in which overlapping injection and sexual risk behaviors occur. Increased sexual health screening and risk reduction services including PrEP for PWID may help curtail transmission in this population.

"We don't get much of a voice about anything": perspectives on photovoice among people who inject drugs.

BACKGROUND: In the context of the current US opioid crisis, people who inject drugs (PWID) are increasingly researched, but their ability to tell their own stories may be limited. Photovoice is a participatory action research method that allows participants to use photography to directly depict their experiences. METHODS: We conducted interviews with PWID (n = 33) as part of a qualitative study on the health needs of PWID in the USA to explore interest and acceptability of photovoice as a potential research method and way to share their voices. RESULTS: Participants identified facilitators and barriers to participating in a future photovoice project. Facilitators included a chance to depict one's unique experience, help others in need by sharing one's own story, and photography being a more "comfortable" way to tell their stories than traditional research methods. Barriers included safety concerns, embarrassment, and ability to retain cameras. Participants also identified areas of sensitivity related to documenting drug use. CONCLUSIONS: While we found broad acceptability of photovoice, barriers would need to be addressed and additional training and support for research staff and potential participants related to the ethics of public photography and engaging PWID in photovoice research would be required.

Evidence-based and guideline-concurrent responses to narratives deferring HCV treatment among people who inject drugs.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is increasingly prevalent among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the context of the current US opioid crisis. Although curative therapy is available and recommended as a public health strategy, few PWID have been treated. We explore PWID narratives that explain why they have not sought HCV treatment or decided against starting it. We then compare these narratives to evidence-based and guideline-concordant information to better enable health, social service, harm reduction providers, PWID, and other stakeholders to dispel misconceptions and improve HCV treatment uptake in this vulnerable population. METHODS: We recruited HIV-uninfected PWID (n = 33) through community-based organizations (CBOs) to participate in semi-structured, in-depth qualitative interviews on topics related to overall health, access to care, and knowledge and interest in specific HIV prevention methods. RESULTS: In interviews, HCV transmission and delaying or forgoing HCV treatment emerged as important themes. We identified three predominant narratives relating to delaying or deferring HCV treatment among PWID: (1) lacking concern about HCV being serious or urgent enough to require treatment, (2) recognizing the importance of treatment but nevertheless deciding to delay treatment, and (3) perceiving that clinicians and insurance companies recommend that patients who currently use or inject drugs should delay treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight persistent beliefs among PWID that hinder HCV treatment utilization. Given the strong evidence that treatment improves individual health regardless of substance use status while also decreasing HCV transmission in the population, efforts are urgently needed to counter the predominant narratives identified in our study. We provide evidence-based, guideline-adherent information that counters the identified narratives in order to help individuals working with PWID to motivate and facilitate treatment access and uptake. An important strategy to improve HCV treatment initiation among PWID could involve disseminating guideline-concordant counternarratives to PWID and the providers who work with and are trusted by this population.

Caring for Young Children with Asthma: Perspectives from Urban Community Health Centers.

Asthma disproportionately affects low-income, minority youth, with notable disparities among children <5 years of age. Understanding the perceptions of urban community health centers (CHCs) regarding treating young children with asthma could improve care for these patients. This study uses data from semi-structured focus groups with staff from eight urban CHCs. Themes emerged in three domains. Within the parent/family domain, providers noted low rates of follow-up visits, low health literacy, and-for young children specifically-misunderstanding about the diagnosis. At the CHC level, providers needed more staff, space, and comfort with applying the guidelines to infants and young children. CHCs reported asthma registries, population health oversight, and an asthma champion improved care. At the system level, providers wanted improved communication with emergency departments and community outreach programs. Reducing these multi-level barriers may improve care.

Point-of-care access to clinical guidelines may improve management of incidental findings in the primary care setting.

RATIONALE: Incidental radiographic findings are common, and primary care providers (PCPs) are often charged with the conducting or initiating an appropriate evaluation. Clinical guidelines are available for management of common 'incidentalomas' including lung and adrenal nodules, but guidelines-adherent evaluations are not always performed; for example, in the setting of incidental adrenal masses (IAMs), recent literature suggests that an evidence-based evaluation occurs in <25% of patients for whom it is warranted-a quality and safety concern. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to examine whether point-of-care access to concise clinical guidelines would promote appropriate evaluations of two common incidentalomas: IAMs and lung nodules. METHOD: This study was a survey-based, single-blinded, randomized experiment of decision-making within clinical vignettes. Respondents were PCPs in a variety of clinical practice settings, and half were randomly assigned to surveys that included concise clinical guidelines while the other half served as controls without access to guidelines. Scenarios involved patients with IAMs and lung nodules, and the scenarios included both higher-risk and lower-risk lesions. Our primary analysis examined safe versus inappropriate clinical decisions, while a secondary analysis compared guidelines-concordant versus guidelines-discordant responses. RESULTS: For both the higher-risk IAM and higher-risk lung nodule scenarios, safe answer choices were selected at a similar rate by respondents regardless of whether they had access to guidelines or not. However, for the lower risk scenarios, inappropriate answer choices were chosen substantially more frequently by respondents without access to guidelines compared to those with the guidelines (lung: 29.3% vs. 4.5%, p = 0.003, adrenal: 31.6% vs. 7.0%, p = 0.01). There was less variation in the secondary analysis. CONCLUSION: Survey respondents were significantly more likely to make safe management decisions in lower-risk clinical scenarios when clinical guidelines were available. Point-of-care access to clinical guidelines for incidentalomas is an intervention that may reduce management errors and improve patient safety.

Factors That Affect Opioid Quality Improvement Initiatives in Primary Care: Insights from Ten Health Systems.

OBJECTIVE: To improve patient safety and pain management, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain (CDC Guideline). Recognizing that issuing a guideline alone is insufficient for transforming practice, CDC supported an Opioid Quality Improvement (QI) Collaborative, consisting of 10 health care systems that represented more than 120 practices across the United States. The research team identified factors related to implementation success using domains described by the integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (iPARIHS) implementation science framework. METHODS: Data from interviews, notes from check-in calls, and documents provided by systems were used. The researchers collected data throughout the project through interviews, meeting notes, and documents. RESULTS: The iPARIHS framework was used to identify factors that affected implementation related to the context, innovation (implementing recommendations from the CDC Guideline), recipient (clinicians), and facilitation (QI team). Contextual characteristics were at the clinic, health system, and broader external context, including staffing and leadership support, previous QI experience, and state laws. Characteristics of the innovation were its adaptability and challenges operationalizing the measures. Recipient characteristics included belief in the importance of the innovation but challenges engaging in the initiative. Finally, facilitation characteristics driving differential outcomes included staffing and available time of the QI team, the ability to make changes, and experience with QI. CONCLUSION: As health care systems continue to implement the CDC Guideline, these insights can advance successful implementation efforts by describing common implementation challenges and identifying strategies to prepare for and overcome them.

"Getting Started": A Pilot Introductory Narrative Writing Session for Interprofessional Faculty in Academic Health Sciences.

Purpose: We designed and implemented a pilot introductory narrative writing session with the two-fold goal of fostering the dissemination of faculty writing for submission to peer-reviewed journals and other publication venues while simultaneously creating a framework for establishing collaborative and empathic interprofessional teams by enhancing narrative-related competencies. Methods: The session was open to interprofessional faculty at our academic health sciences center. Participants were accepted via a competitive application process, with group size limited to 18 individuals due to the workshop-style format. Learners were reflective of our diverse campus regarding sex, race/ethnicity, department, rank, and professional role. The session began with an experiential seminar providing instruction on writing theory and practice, discussion questions, and reflective writing prompts. The seminar was followed by a writing workshop. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation to gauge participant satisfaction and educational efficacy. Results: The mixed-methods evaluation revealed that faculty reported high satisfaction with the session as a designated space to contemplate, discuss, practice, share, and critique narrative writing. All learners (18, 100%) rated it "very good" or "excellent" in overall quality and value as well as in relevance to personal growth. Participants reported growth in communication (13, 72%), self-reflection (12, 67%), active listening (12, 67%), writing confidence (11, 61%), perspective-taking (11, 61%), writing skills (10, 56%), and empathy (8, 44%). Discussion: Faculty valued the session as a venue for improving their writing skills and sharing with a diverse group of colleagues about the significance of narrative in relation to their professional lives. Conclusion: Seminar outcomes suggest that narrative-based education for interprofessional health sciences faculty can be effective in achieving the two-fold goal of enhancing writing competencies while simultaneously fostering essential skills for building collaborative and empathic teams to promote high-quality education, research, and whole person clinical care.

Strategies to optimize management of incidental radiographic findings in the primary care setting: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Incidental adrenal masses (IAMs) are common. Primary care providers (PCPs) are frequently responsible for incidentaloma evaluations. We evaluated whether PCPs view this paradigm effective, barriers faced, and strategies to optimize care delivery. METHODS: This is a sequential explanatory study, comprised of surveys followed by focus groups of PCPs. Because lung nodules are another type of common incidental finding, we compared PCP views on management of lung nodules to their views on IAMs. RESULTS: For IAMs, 22.3% of PCPs "always refer" to specialists, but for lung nodules this was 11.5% (p = 0.026). For lung nodules, the most significant barrier was insufficient time/support to longitudinally follow results (69%), but for IAMs it was uncertainty about which tests to order (68%). Fear of litigation was equal (lung = 22.5%, IAMs = 21.3%). Consistent themes regarding the "ideal" system included specific recommendations in radiology reports; automation of orders for follow-up tests; longitudinal tracking tools; streamlined consultations; and decision guides embedded within the electronic health record. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents are more comfortable with lung nodules than IAMs. Management of "incidentalomas" is within their scope of practice, but the current system can be optimized.

Assessing Smoke-Free Housing Implementation Approaches to Inform Best Practices: A National Survey of Early-Adopting Public Housing Authorities.

Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure causes chronic illness and occurs at a higher prevalence in low-income communities than the general public. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) instituted a smoke-free housing rule for Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to address persistent health inequities. However, the success of smoke-free housing requires evidence to inform effective implementation approaches. A mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey was conducted in a national sample of PHAs. Questions focused on housing officials' use of specific implementation strategies. Adjusted odds ratios were used to assess associations between implementation approaches and variations among PHAs (i.e., region, size, or recency of policy adoption). Qualitative analyses were conducted to assess the perceived effectiveness of implementation strategies. Resident engagement, staff training, and smoking cessation support were the most frequently used implementation strategies. Engagement with local stakeholders was cited less frequently. Enforcement actions were limited with no violations referred to housing court. Support for policy adherence was identified as a sixth implementation strategy. While most PHAs used at least some evidence-informed implementation strategies, a lack of a systematic approach may limit overall effectiveness. Further research is required to resolve implementation barriers experienced disproportionately by a subset of PHAs, and to inform a best practice implementation framework that meets the needs of a heterogeneous population.

Fostering Tobacco Regulatory Team Science through a multisite, virtual fellowship program for early-career researchers.

INTRODUCTION: In an era of complex, multi-institutional, team-based science, there is little guidance for the successful creation of effective, collaborative, multisite training programs. OBJECTIVE: We designed, implemented, and evaluated a multi-institutional Tobacco Regulatory Science (TRS) fellowship representing a scalable program that may be customized for other research areas. METHODS: Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed program evaluations from trainees enrolled in the first 7 years of the American Heart Association (AHA) Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center (A-TRAC) fellowship (2014-2021). We also reported the program outcomes, including published TRS manuscripts, independent grant funding, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Docket comments submitted on TRS topics, TRS oral and poster presentations, research awards, and promotions in the TRS field. RESULTS: Thirty-five unique trainees (49% [n = 17] female, 29% [n = 10] Black) from eight institutions within the A-TRAC network participated in the fellowship since its inception. The trainees reported 74 TRS publications, 78 TRS oral or poster presentations, 25 FDA Docket comment submissions, and 13 funded grant awards. Participant evaluations indicated six areas of programmatic strength: 1) blended instruction medium with webinars and in-person meetings, 2) curricular emphasis on theories of experiential learning, 3) focus on career and professional development, 4) integrated mentorship model, 5) culture of feedback and feedforward to foster successful learning, and 6) focus on recruiting diverse participants. The A-TRAC model stresses experiential education, feedback and feedforward, and peer learning. CONCLUSIONS: Our resource-effective, needs-driven program is a reproducible model for institutions interested in developing multisite, virtual research education programs in the era of team science.

MCR: Open-Source Software to Automate Compilation of Health Study Report-Back.

Sharing individualized results with health study participants, a practice we and others refer to as "report-back," ensures participant access to exposure and health information and may promote health equity. However, the practice of report-back and the content shared is often limited by the time-intensive process of personalizing reports. Software tools that automate creation of individualized reports have been built for specific studies, but are largely not open-source or broadly modifiable. We created an open-source and generalizable tool, called the Macro for the Compilation of Report-backs (MCR), to automate compilation of health study reports. We piloted MCR in two environmental exposure studies in Massachusetts, USA, and interviewed research team members (n = 7) about the impact of MCR on the report-back process. Researchers using MCR created more detailed reports than during manual report-back, including more individualized numerical, text, and graphical results. Using MCR, researchers saved time producing draft and final reports. Researchers also reported feeling more creative in the design process and more confident in report-back quality control. While MCR does not expedite the entire report-back process, we hope that this open-source tool reduces the barriers to personalizing health study reports, promotes more equitable access to individualized data, and advances self-determination among participants.

How to Launch and Continually Enhance an Effective Medical Campus Faculty Development Program: Steps for Implementation and Lessons Learned.

PURPOSE: Drawing on the decade of experience of Boston University Medical Campus' Faculty Development Office, this paper reports strategies used to launch and continually improve faculty development programming within an academic health sciences campus. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The authors explain the steps that Boston University Medical Campus took to institute their set of faculty development programs, including an overview of resources on how to periodically conduct needs assessments, engage key institutional stakeholders, design and evaluate an array of programming to meet the needs of a diverse faculty, and institute real-time program modifications. RESULTS: In a step-by-step guide, and by highlighting vital lessons learned, the authors describe a process by which biomedical educators can create and sustain a robust faculty development office within their own institutions. CONCLUSION: This paper identifies steps to launch and improve faculty development program. Faculty development programs should be expanded to support faculty in academic medical centers.