24th National Conference: Observance of the 30th Anniversary of the Coastal Research Group

Last Updated on April 16, 2022 by Lee Burnett, DO, FAAFP

On Thursday, April 11, 2013, William H. Burnett, MA, Coordinator of the Coastal Research Group, will observe the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Coastal Research Group as a State of California non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in July, 1983.

The founding document, receiving the endorsement of the California Secretary of State on July 6th, specifies “that the purposes of this corporation are to conduct research in the academic discipline of family medicine and primary health care delivery, encourage imporvements in continuity and family-centered health care delivery, to record and preserve the history of the family medicine movement, to diffuse information through appropriate publications, to conduct policy analysis and to conduct appropriate conferences and workshops consistent with the organization’s purposes.”

Further “the corporation is oranized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code”.

Although each of the purposes has been addressed, as the Coastal Research Group evolved over the three decades, the Coastal Research Group’s greatest impact has been through its “diffusion of information through appropriate publications” – which now are its website’s www.studentdoctor.net and coastalresearch.org.

Its other major effort has been the conduct of “appropriate conferences and workshops”, which include the 24 National Conferences on Primary Health Care Access, six National Worskhops on the Community Benefits of Family Medicine Residency Programs, nine Primary Care Case Management conferences, and two National Conferences on Community Health Center-Primary Care Resdiency Program linkages.

In addition, the Coastal Research Group produced six conferences for the Western Region of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, in co-sponsorship with the University of California, San Diego, the University of Nevada, and the University of Washington.

The Coastal Research Group Executive Board has approved the investment of resources, obtrained through institutional memberships, sponsorships and contributions, in the transcription and publication of the entire proceedings of the National Conferences, which will provide a major resouce to persons studying the evolution of public policy in primary health care and public health.