ARCHNet

ARCHNet (Ambulatory Research Community Health Network) is Saint Louis University School of Medicine's Family and Community Medicine Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN). 

What is ARCHNet?

Founded in 2015, ARCHNet is greater St. Louis’ Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) focusing on family and community medicine. Our mission is to facilitate partnerships between community-based family physicians seeking to contribute to research and primary care researchers.  This partnership encourages innovative studies designed to generate findings that will improve the quality of care, patient health outcomes and help answer challenging clinical questions facing family medicine providers.  ARCHNet primary care researchers engage with area family physicians and other primary care providers to identify needs, prioritize research topics, discuss and disseminate results and ultimately, improve the health of people in the St. Louis metropolitan region. 

Why a PBRN?

Practice-Based Research Networks are some of the most exciting and innovative developments to happen in medical research. By encouraging partnerships between researchers and practitioners in the field, PBRNs reduce the tendency for both groups to operate in silos and provide for opportunities to network and examine physician-inspired research questions.  Practitioners also receive training in research methods and learn strategies to interpret the newest research findings. PBRNs are uniquely well-suited to shorten the lengthy delay between empirical discoveries and the implementation of new evidence-based practices.

Relevant Research from the Ground, Up

As a PBRN, ARCHNet is positioned to maximize the relevance of medical research. How often do practicing physicians come across interesting, new research, only to struggle with how to make it relevant in their everyday practice? How often does a frontline doctor have insights to real-world practicalities that just don’t seem to find their way into experimental design?

ARCHNet offers an opportunity to introduce your practice insights to research as it happens. It also provides a forum to brainstorm ideas for putting new research into practice. In short, it spans the boundaries that have grown up around the research and practice worlds.

Join ARCHNet Today

ARCHNet offers a community of physicians with a keen interest in research. It also provides a means to easily scale-up any research questions you are interested in supporting. Current ARCHNet members are particularly interested in health disparities, behavioral health, quality improvement, access to care and chronic health conditions including diabetes, hypertension and chronic pain. ARCHNet enjoys exciting collaborative relationships with the Medical Family Therapy program at Saint Louis University and SLUCOR (Saint Louis University’s Center for Health Outcomes Research).

Please contact Carissa Van den Berk-Clark at carissa.vandenberkclark@health.slu.edu