Total funding for clinician development programs up 88 percent

The Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) has received commitments totaling $7,513,750 from 12 funding partners for Clinician Development Program (CDP) grants. The grants will support 2010–2011 graduate medical education (GME) fellowships, continuing medical education (CME) courses, residency enhancement programs, and clinically relevant research projects. The $7.5 million figure is an 88 percent increase in support over 2009–2010.

Companies contributing to the $7.5 million funding pool for 2010–2011 CDP grants include DePuy Spine, DePuy Orthopaedics, Biomet, Medtronic, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Pfizer, DJO Incorporated, Exactech, Synthes North America, Wright Medical Technology, and Orthofix. The 12 CDP funding partners for 2010–2011 include six continuing and five new companies.

Established in 2008, the CDP is a successful new model for grant making that facilitates corporate support for orthopaedic education and research grants while complying with federal mandates and reflecting best practices for transparency, independence, and accountability. All aspects of the program—inviting applications, evaluating applicant programs against qualification criteria, selecting and notifying grant recipients, disbursing grant monies, and managing reports and archives—reside with the OREF and are free from donor bias.

The CDP grant selection process is directed and overseen by the OREF Educational Grants Board, which is composed of prominent orthopaedic surgeons with no industry conflicts.

“We applaud the industry’s response to the call for greater support for ongoing research and quality education and training for orthopaedic surgeons at all career stages, which is so essential to the quality care that our patients deserve,” said William P. Cooney III, MD, OREF board chair. “OREF is proud of the success of the Clinician Development Program to date and will push hard for continued expansion.”