Abstract
Shortcomings in the current pipeline of infectious disease physician scientists are well documented. With a focus on the transition of early stage investigators to research independence, we outline challenges in existing training pathways for physician scientists. We urge leaders of infectious disease societies, divisions, and governmental and nongovernmental funding organizations to reinvigorate a vision for nurturing trainees with interests in research, to seek transparency in physician scientist funding mechanisms, and to encourage efforts to improve the reproducibility of outcomes for talented junior investigators. We feel that the alternative to making these changes will lead to further drop-off in the physician scientist pipeline in a field that has a perpetual need for research.
Highlights
In 2012, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), described the perpetual challenges of infectious diseases (ID) and wrote that “our response must be perpetual as well” [1]
This is an attractive option, when we dual-extracted data from National Institutes of Health (NIH) RePORTER and publicly available fellowship and social networking websites, we identified only 2 trainees affiliated with an ID fellowship program and 6 total physician scientists have been supported by an NIAID F32 award from 2015 to 2018
We argue that supporting the perpetual evaluation of who succeeds in becoming physician scientists, who does not succeed, and how we can improve the reproducibility of our system will greatly support the vitality of our community of ID physician scientists
Summary
Improving the Infectious Diseases Physician Scientist Workforce From the View of Junior Investigators: Vision, Transparency, and Reproducibility. Shortcomings in the current pipeline of infectious disease physician scientists are well documented. With a focus on the transition of early stage investigators to research independence, we outline challenges in existing training pathways for physician scientists. We urge leaders of infectious disease societies, divisions, and governmental and nongovernmental funding organizations to reinvigorate a vision for nurturing trainees with interests in research, to seek transparency in physician scientist funding mechanisms, and to encourage efforts to improve the reproducibility of outcomes for talented junior investigators. We feel that the alternative to making these changes will lead to further drop-off in the physician scientist pipeline in a field that has a perpetual need for research. Graduate medical education; clinical research; infectious disease
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
