Patterns of Recent National Institutes of Health Funding in Family Medicine: Analysis Using the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results System

Introduction Despite a call for increased research by family-medicine physicians, there is no data on the demographics of those awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant. Objective The purpose of the study was to assess recent NIH R01 funding trends over the last decade in family medicine. Methods A retrospective analysis of NIH R01 grant funding in family medicine was conducted by extracting demographic data from the NIH’s Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results (RePORTER) database from 2008 through 2017. Demographics were reported as percentages, and comparisons of the groups were performed by the t-test. Results From 2008 to 2017, the NIH awarded 139 R01 grants to principal investigators (PI) in family medicine. Males comprised 51.80% of all awardees, and those holding a doctorate of medicine (MD) made up 43.88% of the awardees. No one holding a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree received an NIH R01 grant during the timeframe studied. A total of 81.97% of all MDs held a dual degree. When gender and degree were considered, no statistical difference was observed for the total amount of dollars awarded. Conclusion For the years studied, a disparity related to medical degrees was noted for those family-medicine physicians who received an NIH R01 grant. However, no gender disparity was observed.