Datapoints: trends in research fellowship opportunities in psychiatry.

Abstract

387 T is widespread recognition that the physician-scientist is an endangered species (1,2). Concern about the pipeline of psychiatrist-investigators has been especially acute (3). To assess trends in the number of psychiatrists in research training programs, we examined data collected by the American Psychiatric Association and published in the Directory of Research Fellowship Opportunities in 1992, 1995, and 2001 (4,5). In each of the preceding years, a standard set of procedures was used to survey directors of research training programs and residency training programs and chairs of psychiatry departments for detailed information about their research fellowship programs, including the number of M.D. and M.D./Ph.D. fellows participating in the program. Figure 1 depicts the number of each type of fellow during the years studied. There were 143, 141, and 104 departmental programs listed in the directory in 1992, 1995, and 2001, respectively. While the number of M.D./Ph.D. fellows dropped somewhat (48, 50, and 40), the number of M.D. research fellows declined dramatically, falling 42.2 perTrends in Research Fellowship Opportunities in Psychiatry