If You Hold It Off-Hours, Will They Come? Results from a Feasibility Project Intended to Stimulate Interest in the Physician-Investigator Career Path Among Medical Oncology Trainees

Abstract

Off-hours sessions to discuss academic career development are feasible among medical oncology trainees.

Curricula, Teaching Methods, and Success Metrics of Clinician–Scientist Training Programs: A Scoping Review

“…From 7,544 initial citations, 4,974 unique abstracts were screened after duplicates were removed, 483 full-text articles were reviewed, and 81 studies 37–117 were included in the final analysis (Figure 1). Of the 81 included studies, 65 (80.2%) were published from 2011 to 2020, with 23 (28.4%) published in 2019 and 2020.…”

Exploring intentions of physician-scientist trainees: factors influencing MD and MD/PhD interest in research careers

“…The recommendations of the recent Physician-Scientist Workforce report [ 20 ] (e.g. development of a pathway to independence award) provide a roadmap for future studies and interventions, while several early-career programs that have been successful in implementing good career development strategies [ 5 , 24 , 28 – 31 ] represent examples to which other academic leaders can look.…”

“…Those MD/PhD programs that sometimes or exclusively solicit applications from accepted MD candidates could easily identify the most promising candidates. So-called “year-out” research programs, such as those offered by many specialty societies and the NIH, could target students identified by such analysis, not only attracting the best students to their programs but also enhancing the research training of those students and perhaps increasing the likelihood of those students pursuing careers in academic medicine, as one small effort to target residents has shown promise to do [ 31 ]. Furthermore, our survey data could provide an aid for MD/PhD programs in identifying outreach targets at the undergraduate level.…”

“…Multiple efforts have been made to identify the reasons behind high attrition rates for junior medical school faculty [ 5 , 17 , 18 , 23 – 28 ], as well as the struggles facing even more senior faculty [ 9 – 11 ]. Others have studied postgraduates, those undergoing residency and fellowship training, in the hopes that assisting trainees earlier in their careers may prevent future attrition [ 5 , 12 , 26 , 29 – 31 ]. Importantly, attrition exists even at the initial stages of the physician-scientist pipeline, with 10–15% of MD/PhD program trainees failing to complete their studies [ 32 ].…”