As the accreditor for more than 2,500 continuing education activities for healthcare professionals each year, the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) has unique perspectives on what makes a strong grant request. Many of our partners choose PIM based in part on the clinical, editorial, and grant management expertise within our team, as PIM receives educational grants from nearly all the major pharmaceutical and device companies in the U.S. In this article, we highlight the essential elements of a grant request and offer tips for increasing the likelihood of an approval.
The 3 “Cs” of Grant Requests: Clear, Concise, and Correlated
Grant review teams are inundated with requests for support. Be sure your proposal is easy to read by including a summary that offers key details such as the target audience, the learning objectives, platform or delivery modality, participation estimates, outcomes to be achieved, and the amount and type of credit being offered.
Ideally, grant requests would be fewer than 10 pages, but this can be challenging for many planners and grant writers who struggle to be comprehensive in their treatment of a serious medical condition. Having a grant proposal that is longer than 10 pages is okay as long as it includes:
A table of contents (TOC), ideally with links to each section
A summary or snapshot with key details about the program
Section headers for ease of navigation (linked to the TOC)
Addenda for references and samples
Perhaps the most important advice for proposal writers is to describe their education in the context of real-world care delivery. When developing needs assessments, consider presenting the practice gaps, educational needs, learning objectives, and desired outcomes in a correlation table. This is a powerful way to demonstrate to potential supporters that the requesting organization understands and can address the practice gaps at the point of patient care. When such tables link their learning objectives to specific agenda items, the request becomes even easier to approve.
In a Joint Providership, what’s the Accreditor’s Role in the Grant Request?
Joint providership allows a non-accredited entity (e.g., a medical association) to partner with an accredited organization (e.g., PIM) to provide accredited continuing education to learners. When seeking commercial support, it is essential that all parties abide by the rules of accreditation. For example, the commercial interest that provides the support for accredited education may not influence the education or have a role in the planning (e.g., faculty selection or agenda setting).
In a joint providership, the accredited organization should review grant requests to ensure compliance and quality. In some cases, the accredited organization may be required to submit the grant request. Regardless of which entity submits the request, the accredited organization should be involved in the grant request at the concept stage to ensure adherence with the rules and to review each element of the grant submission package.
Show, Don't Tell: When and How to Use Graphics in Grants
Grant requests are often filled with clinical data on specialized medical topics. This is fine considering the complexity of the subject matters in healthcare education, but grant writers should consider whether these stories may be more powerful with graphics, diagrams, and/or images. In addition to data sets and text-based summaries of a clinical topic, writers of funding requests should include visual elements to illustrate their points. By employing a range of storytelling techniques within a grant request, education planners demonstrate to the review committee within commercial support institutions that they understand the importance of educating clinician learners using a variety of methods.
Envision Phase II
Considering that many of the commercial interests that support continuing education want to invest in education that will be relevant and impactful, grant writers should keep in mind that practice gaps are rarely closed in one educational experience. By offering a vision for “phase 2 education” (i.e., what may come next) when making a grant request, potential funders may feel more invested in the concept.
Meet the Expert: Nikole Edmonds, PIM’s Grant Manager
Nikole Edmonds joined PIM in 2023 in the role of Grant Manager, bringing rich expertise in the establishment and management of grant funding. Nikole helps PIM’s partners navigate the world of healthcare education grants with a focus on quality and compliance.
Questions? Contact PIM at [email protected]
