Recruitment and Development of Academic Pediatricians Requires Departmental Commitments
In a recent paper authored by Alan Jobe, MD, PhD, et al, for the Work Group on Research of the American Pediatric Society, one message is clear: the number of pediatrician-scientists is critically low. According to the authors, talented academic pediatricians are becoming increasingly rare and should be viewed as a precious resource.
"The most valuable commodity in pediatrics today is the young, well-trained person with a potential for academic pediatrics," says Dr. Jobe, professor of pediatrics in the Division of Neonatology.
To conserve this resource by recruiting and developing the very best candidates, the authors maintain that a number of departmental commitments need to be in place. Dr. Jobe points out that the impediments to a career in academic pediatrics can be daunting.
"The time commitment and intellectual commitment to develop an academic career are considerable. There is a perceived difficulty in securing funding. Many residents also come to the workplace with a great deal of debt, so there is an additional financial impediment in terms of what you make and what you owe."
The authors say that an important component of the research environment for young investigators is a mentoring program. New faculty members should have an environment that is mentored for personal and professional growth, and should be recruited into a well-established and supportive research group. The ideal mentor, according to the authors, should provide career guidelines, give critical feedback and stimulate collaborative activities.
It is also critical that a young investigator has protected time to focus on research activities. The authors assert that 70 to 80 percent of the individual's time at work should be spent on research while the other 20 to 30 percent should be spent on clinical duties. Although these figures represent the ideal, Dr. Jobe says that in many cases young researchers find themselves pulled in too many directions.
"The problem," he says, "is that there can be a lot of demands on the person - clinical care, teaching and other activities that keep them from concentrating on academics." The recruitment and development of a laboratory-based investigator also requires a considerable financial commitment. The ultimate goal for the young investigator should be to secure funding independently, but in the beginning, funds for equipment, supplies, lab and office space must be provided by the department. These initial costs can be defrayed, at least in part, by startup funds, regional grants and support from institutions such as the National Institutes of Health.
While mentoring, time management and financial support are crucial in the early stages of a young investigator's career, the authors point out that the ultimate goal of the recruiting department should be to foster a sense of independence. This can be accomplished by submitting papers with the young investigator as the first and corresponding author, by encouraging the individual to secure funding through grant applications, and by encouraging the investigator to present his or her research outside of the research group in the absence of mentors.
Departments should not recruit pediatricians to careers in research unless the resources to support and nurture them are in place. The most talented candidates can lose motivation if the expectations placed upon them do not match their best interests. Dr. Jobe summarizes the most important factors to the development of a young investigator in a few words:
"A commitment to providing the infrastructure and resources necessary to develop an academic track, and a commitment to giving them the time to do it."
This paper was published in Pediatric Research (51[5]: 662-664, 2002 May).
Editor's Note: Cincinnati Children's has programs in place to address the needs of our junior faculty, such as orientation and mentoring for those applying for grants.
