Novel Prescriptions From Medical Schools for Physician–Scientist Training and Engagement in the Twenty-First Century

Physicians engaged in biomedical research are well positioned to directly focus the discovery process on human biology. However, the relative proportion of investigators engaged in both caring for patients and conducting research is decreasing. To address the dwindling numbers of physician–scientists nationally, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund created the Physician-Scientist Institutional Awards Program by dedicating 25 million dollars to new initiatives at 10 degree granting, accredited medical schools in North America, awarded on the basis of institutions’ proposals. The perceived barriers to physician–scientist training, program initiatives, and commitment to training a diverse group of future researchers were articulated in each application. In all, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund review committee considered 136 distinct proposals from 83 medical schools, representing 54% of all accredited medical schools in North America. Barriers identified by more than one-third of the applicant institutions included the absence of both mentors and role models, student indebtedness, institutional cultures that valued clinical care delivery above the discovery process, limited prior relevant research experience, and structural barriers that limited scheduling flexibility during training. Awards were granted to institutions with programs designed to be sustainable and overcome critical, prospectively identified barriers to training and retention of physician–scientists. Potential solutions from the 10 funded programs were focused on different stages of the training experience. Though a determination about the relative success of each of the initiatives will take many years, careful consideration of the barriers identified and more general application of specific program component may be beneficial in increasing the numbers of physicians actively involved in biomedical research.