Over 90 Total Lots Up For Auction at One Location - WA 04/08

Are physician-scientists becoming an endangered species?

by Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | October 14, 2015
Emergency Medicine Population Health
Physician-scientists play an important role in the development of better health care because of their unique familiarity with different sides of the health care spectrum — but some experts fear these unique experts are rapidly disappearing. According to a recent commentary published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, an action plan is needed to stem the tide.

"Medical research improves our ability to diagnose, treat and prevent human diseases," Dr. Dianna Milewicz, lead author of the commentary and director of the division of medical genetics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, told HCB News. "The physician-scientist plays a unique role in medical research in that they can provide the link between the patients and the laboratory."

There has been a significant increase in the average age of physician-scientists and in the amount of time it takes them to receive their initial grants. In 1980, a physician-scientist was usually around 35 years old when they received an independent National Institutes of Health grant, but in 2011 they were typically 45 years old.

Only 14,000 of the almost one million physicians in the U.S. identified research as their main focus, according to a survey conducted by the American Medical Association. The amount of physician-scientists is stable right now since the older ones are working longer, but the workforce may still experience a decline in the near future.

Milewicz believes that the time for action is now. In her commentary she wrote that lessons from the M.D.-Ph.D. training and postgraduate training need to be applied, the time to independence needs to be shortened by five years, there needs to be greater diversity and numbers in training programs, and Physician-Scientist Career Development offices need to be established at medical centers and universities.

She believes that instead of waiting for the federal government to solve our problems, the academic community needs to solve its own problems. She urges them to address those goals by collaborating with the NIH and national clinical specialty and medical organizations.

You Must Be Logged In To Post A Comment