Research Training in the Biomedical, Behavioral, and Clinical Research Sciences

Abstract

The statement of task for the committee is: A committee will advise the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare and Quality Research (AHRQ) on issues regarding research personnel needs as they relate to the administration of the National Research Service Awards (NRSA) program. The committee will gather and analyze information on employment and education trends of research scientists in the broad fields of the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences, and in the subfields of oral health, nursing, and health services research. The analysis will take into consideration the demographic changes in the United States, changes in disease pattern, and changes in scientific opportunity. The committee will deal broadly with the training needs and direction of the NRSA program as they relate to relevant federal research training policies, the impact of changes in the level of support for research and training, and the emergence of cross-disciplinary research areas. The analysis will include an estimate of the future supply of researchers from the current and future population of graduate students and postdoctorates, and the committee will make recommendations on the overall production rate of research personnel in the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences for the period 2010 to 2015 as it relates to the NRSA program. Separate consideration will be given to training with respect to NIH dual-degree and career development programs, and NIH programs that are designed to address diversity in the research workforce.Reflecting the broad fields identified in the statement of task, the committee divided the research enterprise into three major areas: basic biomedical, behavioral and social sciences, and clinical research. These areas are discussed in detail in individual chapters in this report. Additional chapters are devoted to dentistry, nursing, and health services research, even though these can be thought of as subfields of the major areas. An additional chapter addresses training issues that cut across the above fields. Recommendations are found in the individual chapters and are referenced here by number following the recommendation.