Workforce Development for Comparative Effectiveness Research: Training Programs Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
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Key Findings
- Forty-three ARRA CER training projects were funded for $46 million through four funding mechanisms from the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
- These projects mostly built upon an existing training program or otherwise leveraged existing institutional training resources for CER, providing foundational and applied knowledge of CER through a combination of didactic and experiential components.
- The core competencies identified most often as being important for CER researchers included methodological skills in statistical modeling for observational data analysis, methodological skills in evidence synthesis (systematic reviews and meta-analysis), and general research design skills such as asking CER-relevant research questions and choosing an appropriate study design.
Aim
We conducted a midstream assessment of the comparative effectiveness research (CER) training programs funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) by examining program characteristics, planned curriculum development activities, and core competencies.
Materials and Methods
We examined all 43 training projects funded by the $46 million ARRA CER investment, collecting data from key informant discussions and a technical expert panel.
Results
The majority of projects leveraged institutional resources to provide an individualized combination of didactic and experiential learning supported by strong mentorship. Core competencies included skills in statistical modeling, evidence synthesis (systematic reviews and meta-analysis) and general research design skills.
Conclusion
ARRA-supported CER training programs enhanced workforce capacity by developing curricula and preparing CER researchers to apply emerging methods and utilize new CER infrastructure.
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