Endowment
Foundation Funding Pool Continues to Grow, Making Larger Grants Possible
In 2009, the FSMB completely reorganized its philanthropic arm, the FSMB Foundation, with the goal of increasing its impact as an asset for both the medical regulatory community and the public. As a part of this effort, the FSMB made a significant monetary contribution to the Foundation, establishing a major endowment. In the years that have followed, the Foundation has steadily built this endowment through proactive fundraising and innovative partnerships with other organizations, allowing it to disperse a higher volume of grants, in larger amounts, than ever before.
The Foundation has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants since its re-launch in 2009, with total funding for annual grants reaching $100,000 for the first time in 2022. During the 2023-24 grant-funding cycle, our grant total will increase to $300,00, with individual awards up to $50,000 available.
A wide variety of health-care organizations have benefited from the Foundation’s endowment during the last 14 years, including funding for projects supporting more than 30 different state medical and osteopathic boards.
Average Award Size
Annual FSMB Foundation Fundraiser: Growing Coffers and Raising Awareness of Key Issues
The FSMB Foundation has held 11 annual fundraising events — both live and online — since their inception in 2013, featuring presentations by prominent authors, researchers and policy leaders. Our fundraisers in 2022 and 2023 advanced understanding of important topics while strengthening the Foundation’s endowment.
2022 Fundraiser Explores Impact of Physician Stress
The Foundation’s 2022 annual fundraiser, held on April 29, 2022 during the FSMB’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans, featured J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA, co-founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. Mr. Feist discussed the profound effects the pandemic and other stressors have had on physicians, such as his sister-in-law, Dr. Lorna Breen, an emergency room physician who died by suicide during the early stages of the pandemic. He also addressed steps state medical boards can take as they begin to examine the regulatory requirements sometimes perceived as barriers to treatment seeking by licensees. In large part due to Mr. Feist’s efforts, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act became the first legislation of its kind to provide critical funding for education and training to support the mental health and well-being of healthcare workers. The FSMB Foundation has provided substantial funding and support to advance the cause of physician health, including serving as a partner to the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience.
2023 Fundraiser Highlights Compassion in the Art of Medicine
Healthcare workers have always had a moral and ethical imperative to treat patients with compassion, and compassion is a cornerstone of the “art” of medicine. But is compassion just in the art of medicine, or are there also evidence-based effects of compassion belonging in the science of medicine? This was the question at the heart of Dr. Stephen Trzeciak’s keynote address at the 2023 FSMB Foundation fundraiser, held May 5, 2023 during the FSMB’s Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. Dr. Trzeciak, Chief of Medicine at Cooper University Health Care and Professor and Chair of Medicine at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, delivered an engaging presentation that explored the intersection of compassion in both the art and science of medicine. Dr. Trzeciak demonstrated the evidence-based effects of compassion on patients, patient care, and those who care for patients. Nearly 200 attendees were on hand for the event — the second highest attendance figure since Foundation fundraisers began.
J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA, co-founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, discussed the tragic death by suicide of his sister-in-law, Dr. Lorna Breen, who struggled with stress during the pandemic.
Through an extensive two-year exploration of scientific literature, Dr. Stephen Trzeciak documented the evidence-based effects of compassion on patients, patient care, and those who care for patients.