John D. Brown, MD, MPH, Nancy F. Weller, DrPH, BSN, and Thomas F. Gavagan, MD, MPH. Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 3701 Kirby, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77098, 713-798-9181, jdbrown@bcm.tmc.edu

Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC) has been presented as theoretically important to include in academic primary care education and practice, especially in family medicine departments that train community medicine physicians. Residency programs have successfully implemented COPC methodology among primary care physicians in community settings. However, little is known about the outcomes of this process and literature documenting community physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about COPC is scarce. This report documents a physician needs assessment undertaken for a training grant application and describes the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about COPC of an urban family medicine faculty with heavy clinical care responsibilities. Structured face-to-face interviews were conducted and responses to five questions about COPC were transcribed and analyzed using N6" software. Fifty-five providers were interviewed; the response rate was 65%. Seventy-five percent of physicians had heard of COPC, but only half could partially identify its components. Most providers reported a strong interest in developing COPC research projects. However, personal and professional time constraints were reported as substantial barriers to undertaking a COPC project. Greater than 75% stated that paid protected time was essential to participation in COPC research. Many physicians required additional training and skills in this methodology to effectively design and implement a research project. Most providers listed diabetes, hypertension, and obesity as important topics for COPC research. Further research is needed in order to apply these findings, smoothly integrate this paradigm into practice, and develop partnerships between academic physicians and their communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the components of Community-Oriented Primary Care Research
• Articulate the importance of a physician needs assessment to the implementation of COPC research
• List physicians' perceived personal and professional barriers to participation in COPC research
• Identify several skills required by community physicians to facilitate participation in COPC research

Keywords: Community-Oriented Primary Care, Community Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.