FIRST: Fellowships in Research & Science Teaching: A differential approach to postdoctoral training

Abstract

As part of the IRACDA (Institutional Research and Career Development Awards, NIGMS) initiative, the FIRST program was developed in order to increase underrepresented minorities in postdoctoral fellowship positions in the life sciences, as well as to increase research oriented teaching at minority serving institutions (MSIs). This is accomplished through a collaborative effort, with the majority of the postdoctoral fellows conducting research at Emory University or Morehouse School of Medicine, while completing their teaching component at one of the historically black colleges in the Atlanta University Center (Morehouse College, Spelman College, or Clark‐Atlanta University). FIRST fellows, therefore, have a research‐intensive experience and at the same time have an opportunity to engage in teaching activities, an experience quite unusual compared to that of most traditionally trained postdocs. FIRST fellows are at least as successful by any measure as a traditionally trained postdoc. A study of 114 FIRST fellows compared to over 500 traditional postdoctoral fellows revealed that not only do FIRST fellows publish in scientific journals at the same rate as the comparison group, they obtain more academic jobs; receive NIH grants at a comparable rate; contribute to diversity at Emory; and to the faculty at the MSIs.