Health services research has as its domain issues confronting the U.S..health care delivery system, including: effectiveness and cost of treatments such as transplants or new drug regimens; quality of care; inadequacies in health care delivery systems; outcomes, cost benefit, cost effectiveness, and appropriateness of care research; and, implications of government health care policies at the individual and institutional level. In the study of these issues, it is important for researchers to be sensitive to the nature and needs of special populations such as minorities and disadvantaged persons. However, little health services research currently being funded adequately addresses special populations in either research design or analysis. Furthermore, there is significant underrepresentation of minority principal investigators receiving AHCPR funding. To address these issues, the Association of American Medical Colleges proposes a cooperative agreement with AHCPR to do the following: 1. Hold a national conference on """"""""Health Services Research Issues and Special Populations"""""""" to generate research interest in issues related to special populations. 2. Hold a Minority Faculty Professional Development Institute in Health Services Research to address the need for training of minority researchers in health services research. 3. Generate interest in, and raise the prestige of, health services research in medical schools and teaching hospitals through AAMC publications and meetings. 4. Using the, AAMC Faculty Roster Database, match minority medical school faculty to a control sample of majority faculty and examine the MEDLARS databases to learn more about the differing research interests (if any) of the two faculty groups. The primary purpose of this is to determine if minority researchers publish articles on minority issues at higher rates than their majority counterparts.
