The surgical specialties and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program

Abstract

MORE THAN 40 YEARS have passed since the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation took over a fledgling academic and medical leadership program from the Carnegie and Commonwealth Foundations. The Clinical Scholars Program started in 1967 as a result of discussions between 5 medical school medicine department chairs and Maggie Mahoney of the Carnegie Corporation. These discussions identified the need to create a cadre of physicians trained in the social sciences and in areas outside of their clinical expertise. The goal was to provide them with the breadth of knowledge that would allow these physicians to become leaders in health care. The program response was a 2-year fellowship for physicians, usually at the end of residency, that has evolved to include a core curriculum in health services research, clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, community-based participatory research, leadership, and health policy. The initial support came from Carnegie and the Commonwealth Fund, but funding for the program shifted to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 1972, with the US Department of Veterans Affairs joining in supporting the program in 1977. The Clinical Scholars Program has worked with 15 different universities over the years and is currently operating at the Universities of Michigan, Pennsylvania, California-Los Angeles, and Yale. More than 1,200 physicians have trained in the program since its inception. The program has