Overview

There exists in this country a crisis that threatens the future of biomedical research: a dearth of rigorously trained clinician researchers who can sustain and empower the next era of biomedical discovery. There are many obstacles that contribute to this crisis including the high degree of debt encumbered by medical and dental students, the long and arduous training required of physicians that would be made longer by the pursuit of research, the perceived lack of rewards for doing research, the perceived difficulty in competing for funding, the paucity of suitable mentors, negative feedback from struggling researchers, and the interruption in clinical training necessitated by research training.

The National Institutes of Health has developed a loan repayment program for debt relief that can ameliorate one of these obstacles. In addition existing MD/PhD and DDS/PhD training programs are designed to provide a continual supply of new clinician researchers to offset the deficit of rigorously trained investigators. These programs are outstanding, but they do not currently provide a sufficient supply of clinician investigators. In addition, combined MD/PhD and DDS/PhD programs require that individuals decide on this career path prior to or shortly after entering medical school. Thus, there exists a great need for rigorous research training for individuals at a later stage in their careers, a need that can be met with the PhD Program for Clinicians.

This program allows you to:

• Receive comprehensive, structured training
• Reap the benefits of an advanced degree for your research accomplishments
• Proceed directly from PhD to career without interruption for clinical training
• Potentially improve your marketability for placement in academic positions