by Kayla Crum, RN
Michigan State University’s new Primary Care Research Collaborative (PCRC) is designed to expand primary care research at the practice level in communities across Michigan. The new research network has two core components: a research program that provides support services for investigators interested in primary care, and an education and training program for physicians developing research expertise.
Jenna Bernson, MD, the program director at MyMichigan Health Alma Family Medicine Residency and Chair of Family Medicine at MyMichigan Medical Center Alma, is among the network’s six fellows across the state participating in research. She is currently working on a project titled “Age-Related Trends in Adults Presenting with Acute Cough in US Primary Care” alongside another PCRC fellow, Uzma Kham, MD, and Mark Ebell, MD, professor of family medicine at MSU College of Human Medicine. Their work examines age-specific differences in beliefs about antibiotics and when to seek care for a cough alongside differences in prescription management, comorbidities, and clinical outcomes.
This type of study is uniquely suited to a primary care environment, where providers see patients across the entire lifespan. Primary care research is poorly funded, leaving large swaths of helpful data unexamined. A study like this could result in age-specific care standards at the primary care level that decrease emergency department utilization and hospitalization.
Another project on the horizon for Bernson is a randomized controlled trial examining analgesia methods for knee injections treating osteoarthritis, as there is no current best practice for patients with knee pain. This is a collaborative research effort involving several primary care practice sites across the state. These types of research studies get at the heart of patients lived experiences and seek to improve patient-oriented health outcomes.
Learn more about the MSU Primary Care Research Collaborative
