 Physician Scientist Training Program Mission The mission of the Physician Scientist Training program is to educate physicians who are also scientists and will play leadership roles in producing new knowledge which will improve human health. Vision The University of Cincinnati's Physician Scientist Training Program will achieve national recognition by the year 2002, as measured by national benchmarks. The PSTP will attract high quality students from a national applicant pool. The majority of its graduates will pursue careers in academic medicine and research, and will become principal investigators on peer reviewed grants from national funding agencies. Goals for the Physician Scientist Training Program Physician Scientists,
physicians who have achieved credentials in scientific research, forge
a critical link between the laboratory and the bedside. They are
in short supply just at the time when advances in biomedical research,
especially genetics, are increasingly applied to prevention, diagnosis
and treatment of disease. One way of increasing the supply of physician scientists
is the dual degree program, the MD/PhD or Physician Scientist Training
Program (PSTP).
1. Establish performance expectations for the PSTP. The core curriculum of the PSTP must be defined in terms of core knowledge and competencies expected of PSTP students in medical and graduate education. Both quantitative and qualitative performance expectations must be established for the PSTP. The program itself should be formally reviewed within the next three years by a Dean-appointed committee comprised of internal and external evaluators. Benchmarking and measurement of outcomes will require the tracking of careers of PSTP graduates, as well as monitoring their performance in medical and graduate school.2. Improve the depth, quality and gender/racial diversity of the PSTP applicant pool. This will require the development of close links with feeder colleges and universities nationally recognized for the high quality of their student body. The PSTP should be an option for students being recruited by both the medical and graduate programs. The PSTP faculty and students should visit feeder institutions and the Undergraduate Student Internship program should be expanded. Cooperative recruitment plans with the basic science graduate school and with the medical school will be essential as both increase their marketing efforts at a time when the number of young people in the college age group is declining.3. Raise money to support the PSTP. Financial projections for the present PSTP, which has admitted three to eight new students per year, show needs for funding well beyond the College's present capability. The present program cannot be sustained by resources now available to the Dean and will require diversion of money from ongoing departmental programs unless the program is reduced in size and expanded only if new sources of support for the PSTP are found. The PSTP must improve its management capability to stay within budget and must identify new sources of revenue if it is to be sustained at more than three new entering students per year. It requires approximately $100,000 per year in income per student in the “steady state” that is, a College contribution of $300,000 per year will support a class of three students entering and graduating each year, for a steady state of approximately 21 students in a seven-year program. A $5 million PSTP endowment ($250,000 per year in income) would provide stable funding for the administrative needs of the program and stipends critically needed to support students during their clinical clerkships. Partnerships with industry, and non-NIH government and foundation funding should be solicited to increase resources and permit an increase in the size of the program. The Director of the PSTP must provide leadership in fund-raising in conjunction with the Development Office of the College.4. Create a distinct MD/PhD pathway within the College of Medicine. If adequate financial support is available to sustain a program of approximately six entering students per year, then a distinct MD/PhD pathway within the College can be considered. Creation of such a pathway will require a critical mass of students and external financial support, if there are added costs. This pathway would include both the Preclinical and Clinical Phases of the PSTP. The core curriculum of the PSTP must be defined in terms of the core knowledge and competencies expected of PSTP students in medical and graduate education. The College must be assured that upon completion of this joint degree program, the graduate has completed the necessary work and demonstrated the necessary competencies to allow him/her to be a successful researcher-clinician. Financial impact of proposed curricular changes must also be taken into account to assure maximal value at minimal cost.Measurable Benchmarks of Success of the PSTP 1. Matriculants in the PSTP will have superior academic credentials which place them among the top third of the entering students in our medical and graduate programs by objective criteria (MCAT, GPA, GRE). 2. Students will rank among the top half of their medical class academically during the four years of their M.D. program. 3. Students will on average complete their Ph.D. within three years of starting their thesis research. 4. The program will remain within budget and by 2001 will obtain external financial support (non-Dean's funds), preferably from NIH, which will enhance the credibility of the program and permit expansion of the number of entering students. 5. The program will implement long term follow-up of its graduates to measure the quality of their performance in biomedical research, teaching, and clinical care. |
