Abstract
BackgroundThe Albert J. Solnit Integrated Training Program (AJSP) is an educational initiative designed to prepare physician-scientists for independent careers in the investigation and treatment of childhood psychiatric disorders.MethodsWe compared fifteen cohorts (each representing a consecutive year of matriculation) of AJSP trainees and graduates (n = 30) to peers who were comparably ranked in our original match lists but ultimately pursued residency programs elsewhere (n = 60). Outcomes of interest between the two groups included professional affiliation, as measured by: (1) membership in the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP); and (2) certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN), as well as three domains of research productivity: (1) Competitive awards received from AACAP; (2) Publication-related metrics derived from the National Library of Medicine (NLM); and (3) Federal grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).ResultsAJSP participants were more commonly affiliated with AACAP and board certified in CAP. AJSP graduates and trainees outperformed their control group peers in several research outcomes: (1) Receipt of AACAP awards and number of awards per recipient were higher, and time to first award shorter in the AJSP than in the control group; (2) AJSP participants had more publications in PubMed, more first-authored publications, a higher h-index, and a shorter time to first publication than participants in the control group; and (3) NIH K- or R-series funding success rate was higher among AJSP participants (p < 0.05 for all comparisons).ConclusionsA program designed to support the development of clinician-scientists specifically dedicated to childhood mental health needs has been successful in fostering scientific creativity, productivity and independence. The expansion and replication of similar training initiatives will be an in important step forward to address the high level of morbidity and mortality associated with child and adolescent psychiatric disorders.
Highlights
If we are to deliver on the latent promise of our discipline, we must train a new generation capable of redefining it
Sex distribution has been balanced among the 32 participants, eight of whom (25%) are members of under-represented minorities (URM; four African American, three Latinx, one Native American)
Albeit indirectly, that graduates of the AJSP are more likely to become active contributors not just to research in psychiatry, but within the area of child and adolescent psychiatry
Summary
Solnit Integrated Training Program (AJSP) is an educational initiative designed to prepare physician-scientists for independent careers in the investigation and treatment of childhood psychiatric disorders. Leon Rosenberg aptly called physician-scientists as both ‘endangered and essential’ and continued to identify some of the underlying challenges and possible solutions [3]. In 2016 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a series of workshops to update programmatic, system-wide solutions to the enduring challenge of clinician-investigator recruitment and retention [4]. A variety of reasons have been posited for this decline, including: an increasing portion of students with a large academic debt, an increase in the amount of time required to prepare for a research career; and the perception by physicians that they may not be competitive with PhDs
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