1812 - Impact of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Indirect Cost Reduction on Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) Residency Programs

Objectives: The NIH implemented a 15% cap on indirect cost reimbursement for both new and existing grants effective February 10, 2025. The financial repercussions this policy change carries are profound, indirectly affecting residency programs and clinical training budgets. This study is intended to evaluate the impact of NIH’s indirect cost policy change after six months of implementation.

Design: Two separate surveys were distributed to program directors and residents around the country. Questions focused on both current and predicted future impacts on multiple areas of the residency programs, including research funding, training resources, administrative support, staffing, and clinical experience for residents. 

Results: Preliminary result of the survey indicate that 54.55% of the programs are affected by the new policy, with budget reduction as the most impacted category. 100% of the responses anticipated training resources and administrative support to be affected. While 50% of the responses believe the NIH indirect cost reduction would significantly worsen the quality of their programs. 

Conclusions: With the tighter budget margin that residency programs operate on after NIH cost reduction, programs have reported declines in training quality.