The ACGME has selected 30 resident/fellow teams to receive the fourth cycle of funding for Back to Bedside, a resident-led initiative to develop innovative strategies for finding deeper connections with patients, improving physician and patient well-being.
For this cycle, grant applicants could submit an original idea as an “Open Innovation” project, or adapt a previous Back to Bedside project to their local institution and context as a “Project in a Box.” Of the selected projects, 23 are Open Innovation projects and seven are Projects in a Box.
View the full list of newly selected Back to Bedside recipients, projects, and team leaders. With this latest cohort, more than 110 projects have been funded since Back to Bedside’s inception in 2017. This cycle’s project topics include promoting nutrition and wellness during pregnancy, inclusive care for the LGBTQIA+ community, end-of-life care, and more.
In addition to funding, the ACGME provides grant recipients with project and change management skills, leadership education, and mentorship through Learning Collaborative meetings at the ACGME office in Chicago; and regular check-ins throughout the two-year grant cycle, culminating in an opportunity to present their projects at the 2026 Annual Educational Conference in San Diego, California.
“Residents and fellows are uniquely positioned to identify areas for improvement in graduate medical education,” said Joshua Belfer, MD, chair of the Back to Bedside Work and Advisory Group. Dr. Belfer received a Back to Bedside grant in the first cycle of funding. “By providing opportunities for collaboration, professional development, and leadership, as well as funding, Back to Bedside is building future leaders and change agents with the drive and tools to creatively infuse meaning into the clinical care experience into the future.”
Projects come from across the US, and each includes direct patient interaction and outcome measures. Projects aim to improve the clinical learning environment by increasing meaningful connections for physicians with their patients and promoting behaviors that advance physicians' and patients' well-being.
The ACGME’s resident council, the Council of Review Committee Residents, developed Back to Bedside in 2017 to combat burnout by fostering meaning in the learning environment through engagement on a deeper level with what is at the heart of medicine: their patients.
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