A: No. Applications must be submitted by a rural physician principal investigator, however, the project may have non-physician co-investigators.

A: No, to be eligible to apply, a physician must be primarily practicing rural medicine. The purpose of the RPRGP is to help rural physicians who have a question, innovation, or topic of relevance to rural health to receive support to enable them to explore the topic using a rigorous research approach. However, please contact us at [email protected] to discuss your proposed research topic if you think you have a fundable project other than your location of work.

A: No, you do not need to be affiliated with a Health Authority to apply to the Rural Physician Research Grant Program. 

A: Yes, RCCbc has Research Associates throughout the province.  Please connect with us at [email protected] to discuss possible support options.

A: No, quality improvement projects are not eligible for a Rural Physician Research Grant Program.

To be eligible, projects must be situated within the broader research literature, have clear research questions and have a research design and methodology. Ideally, there should also be an intention to publish the results.

It is often possible to take a quality improvement project and turn it into a research project by refocusing the question of interest. Please contact [email protected] if you have an idea and need some support.  

A: Assessing whether a project is quality improvement, evaluation or research can be challenging. This definition can be helpful:

“Quality improvement or program evaluation activities are understood to be those things relating to the assessment, management, or improvement of a local program or process within an institution or unit. On the other hand, research projects are designed to produce generalizable knowledge about particular questions, processes, interventions, etc. [quality improvement and evaluation] projects may be conducted at the discretion of the institution or unit; however, research projects are required to undergo Research Ethics Board review.” 

Health Authorities in British Columbia have Departments dedicated to Quality Improvement and may offer programs and funding for QI projects. Further, the Physician Quality Improvement initiative, local Divisions of Family Practice, Medical Staff Associations, the Joint Collaborative Committees, or Healthcare Foundations may have resources to support a quality improvement project.  

A: Yes, please see the Rural Coordination Centre of BC’s Annual Report for examples of projects. 

A: Yes, the following letters of support are required in your application. Please contact a member of our team if you have questions about who would be most appropriate to ask for letters of support for your particular project. 

• Letter of support from your Hospital Chief of Staff or Health Authority Medical Director – this letter has two primary purposes: 

• A letter from the Chief of Staff or Medical Director stating they see the value of this research for health and health care in rural BC indicates there is support for the research at a broader rural health system level 
• If the research is being conducted in a health authority facility it confirms the relevant health authority leadership is aware and supports the research.  

• Reference letter from a clinician in a rural (RSA) community – this letter should confirm your commitment and connection to rural practice and indicate the reference sees the relevancy and value of the project for rural health care and rural patients. 
• If conducting research with First Nations communities or populations, you must also provide letter(s) of support from Band Council(s) of the participating communities and also any participating/impacted Indigenous organization(s) as needed for the particular project 

A: Yes you will require research ethics board (REB) approval through your health authority REB, university REB or through Research Ethics BC.  Research Ethics BC currently works with 24 institutional research ethics boards (REBs) across BC in working toward province-wide harmonized research ethics review processes. 
Researchers within the Research Ethics BC network can submit their “harmonized” or multi-jurisdictional research ethics application through the Provincial Research Ethics Platform (PREP).  If you are affiliated with a Health Authority and your research only involves one Health Authority, you will submit your application within that institution’s processes.

In the rare circumstances that a research ethics board states that an ethics certificate is not necessary you may submit the waiver to us.  Even if a research project does not require ethics approval, for example if anonymised retrospective data is used, most journals require that the submission needs a certificate from an ethics board that ethics approval is not necessary. Ethics boards are not just interested in how informed consent is obtained but also how data is gathered, analysed, stored and handled to ensure confidentiality of source and reliability of results. 

Generally, institutional approval is required for any research to be conducted within a health facility. 

You must obtain institutional approval before you start your research project. Approval is required from the departments and/or managers where you will be:  

• Utilizing health authority property, resources and/or facilities (including research conducted in clinics, use of radiation, pharmacy, laboratory and pathology services, and use of health records) 

• Involving patients, clients, residents and staff  

The approval process and forms vary across the health authorities. An RCCbc Research Associate can help you navigate the process.   

A: Not all applications are successful and receive funding. The Grant Review Committee decides on fundable applications using a consensus process. Most frequently, projects are not funded if they did not include a defined research question, were insufficiently developed, did not include ethics application information or were strictly a quality improvement project

A:  Examples of expenses could include, for example, patient honoraria, physician compensation, transcription, data analysis, research coordination, research related supplies/equipment etc. For compensation-related expenses, please indicate the estimated hours and rate (note: please see the RCCbc Claims page for the current JCC-set physician sessional rate). 

Note that successful RPRGP grantees are eligible to apply for separate funding from the program to cover a portion of open access journal fees when publishing an article stemming from RPRG-funded research – therefore, open access fees should not be included in the grant budget. 

We encourage all applicants to participate in the BC Rural Health Research Exchange to get feedback while the project is in progress and to disseminate results once completed. 

A: It is the responsibility of the researcher to hire research staff and assistants. If you are interested in connecting with a medical student to work with you on your project, please contact us at [email protected]  and we may be able to assist.

A: Yes, although there are certain restrictions with regards to hiring medical students/residents. If they are participating in the project as part of their scholarly academic work for course completion, then they cannot be paid through this grant. If it is outside their academic course requirements then they may be paid for their role. It is the grant holder’s responsibility to ensure that you are following any specific guidelines set by the student’s educational institution.  

A:  If you are awarded a grant, you will be asked to identify where you would like the grant funds to be sent. Common options selected by grantees include holding the funds institutionally at a university, at their Division of Family Practice, or similar organization. Alternatively, you may choose to administer the grant funds yourself or through your medical corporation. If the grant funds are sent to the recipient, please note that a T4A will be issued. 

A: Yes, after the grant committee reviews the applications we will contact you with the funding decision; this message will include a summary of the committee’s feedback.

A: Please contact us at [email protected] for assistance.  

We understand that plans change, and are generally happy to extend completion dates where appropriate. Additional funding is not available for an extension. 

If you would like to apply for a second round of funding to work on the same topic, you may apply for a second round of funding with a new application. The original project would need to be completed. Please note that you cannot receive more than two rounds of funding to work on the same topic, as we prioritize new researchers or research topics. 

A: In general new project applications will be prioritised to encourage new rural projects and applicants. However, if funding is available, some applications to extend projects or to develop a second phase may be considered.