The ACD Biomedical Workforce Working Group was charged with addressing physician scientist training as well as Ph.D. training. The economic and educational drivers which affect the training and career paths of the physician scientist workforce are very different from those underlying Ph.D. research training and career paths and there was not sufficient time for the working group to examine this important part of the biomedical workforce in detail. In addition, the changing landscape of health care and the effects these changes likely will have on academic medical centers need to be projected carefully and considered when analyzing the future physician-scientist workforce. Therefore, the working group recommended that NIH conduct a follow-on study that focuses on physician-scientists and involves people who train physician scientists, as well as economists who focus on medical education costs, career choices, and the role of these as incentives.

As a result of this recommendation, the Physician-Scientist Workforce Working Group was launched at the December 2012 ACD meeting. The ACD charged the Physician-Scientist Workforce Working Group to:

• Develop approaches that can inform decisions about the development of U.S. physician-scientist biomedical workforce for a variety of positions that will advance science and promote health.
• Analyze the current composition and size of the physician-scientist biomedical workforce to understand the consequences and associated impacts of current funding policies of NIH and other analogous entities on clinicians' decisions to engage in research.
• Assess present and future needs and career opportunities available to support physician-scientist trainees in diverse biomedical research sectors.
• Further identify the incentives and barriers to clinicians entering and continuing to engage in scientific activities.

The term 'physician-scientist' will be used to include individuals with a broad range of professional degrees, including M.D., D.V.M., D.D.S., RN and others who interact with clinical subjects. The committee will make recommendations for actions that NIH should take to support a sustainable and diverse clinical research infrastructure, as well as recommendations for actions needed by other relevant stakeholders.

The PSW is co-chaired by:

David Ginsburg, M.D., James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor, Departments of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, and Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan Medical School, Life Sciences Institute, co-chair

Sherry Mills, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Office of Extramural Programs, NIH/OD/OER, co-chair

Susan Shurin, M.D., Deputy Director, National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood, co-chair

Timeline

Related Information

Roster

• David Ginsburg, M.D., James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor, Departments of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, and Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Michigan Medical School, Life Sciences Institute, co-chair
• Sherry Mills, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Office of Extramural Programs, NIH/OD/OER, co-chair
• Susan Shurin, M.D., Deputy Director, National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood, co-chair
• Nancy C. Andrews, M.D., Ph.D., Dean, Duke University School of Medicine, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Duke University Medical Center
• Gordon R. Bernard, M.D., Melinda Owen Bass Professor of Medicine, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Director, Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and Director of the CTSA Consortium Coordinating Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• Lawrence F. Brass, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Associate Dean, Perelman School of Medicine, Director, Penn MSTP, University of Pennsylvania
• Brian J. Druker, M.D., Director, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Oregon Health & Science University
• Rena N. D'Souza, D.D.S., Ph.D., Professor and Dean, School of Dentistry, University of Utah
• James G. Fox, D.V.M., Professor and Director of the Division of Comparative Medicine Professor, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Helen H. Hobbs, M.D., Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics
• Vivian S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, Dean, School of Medicine, CEO, University Health Care, University of Utah
• Timothy J. Ley, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Genetics, Division of Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine
• Richard P. Lifton, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman, Department of Genetics, Professor, Genetics, Internal Medicine, and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine
• David Meltzer, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Chief, Section of Hospital Medicine, Director, Center for Health and Social Sciences University of Chicago
• David Meltzer, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Chief, Section of Hospital Medicine, Director, Center for Health and Social Sciences, University of Chicago
• Juanita L. Merchant, M.D., Ph.D., H. Marvin Pollard Professor of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School
• David G. Nichols, M.D., M.B.A., President and CEO, The American Board of Pediatrics
• Leon E. Rosenberg, M.D., Professor, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
• Andrew I. Schafer, M.D., The E. Hugh Luckey Distinguished Professor Of Medicine, Chairman, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Physician-in-Chief, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center