A novel program for next generation of PIs
Think Oxford education during Renaissance era
Biomedical research has become so sophisticated in the 21st century that future principal investigators (PIs) might need to have in-depth knowledge about more than one discipline in order to stay competitive.
As clinical medical care and clinical trials studies venture into the individualized medicine realm, so must clinical research training for PIs.
This is why the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY, has developed a new educational program that seeks to train young scientists and physicians in multiple disciplines simultaneously.
"We've reached the level of sophistication where knowledge of a single discipline is pretty much insufficient," says Carlton A. Hornung, PhD, MPH, professor in the department of epidemiology and population health and the director of the office of education and career development in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the University of Louisville.
"If the traditional curriculums at academic health centers were adequate to train the next generation of clinical and translational scientists then we wouldn't need the CTSI, but the point is they're not adequate," Hornung says.
"That might sound harsh," Hornung says. "But you have to be well-versed in multiple disciplines, and you have to have competencies that cut across traditional academic disciplines."
Academic research institutions need to find ways to help the next generation of researchers develop the multiple skills they'll need to compete in the globalized research world, he notes.
Getting out of the silos
"The traditional silos that educated researchers aren't going to work anymore," Hornung says. "We have to figure out how to bridge them or knock them down, and we're trying to do it by not just picking courses, but saying, 'What do you really need to know?'"
This is precisely the plan created by the newly-created Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Louisville, he says.
"Our education master plan is about how we want to train our biomedical research scientists," Hornung says.
A committee meets with each student to look at the student's educational goals and to assist the student with developing a multidisciplinary curriculum to meet those goals.
"This is individualized education for careers in individualized patient care and research," Hornung says.
The CTSI program is in its infancy, but students are beginning to show interest in pursuing the interdisciplinary core competency training, he notes.
"An example of a student we're working with is one who wants to do ventricular assistive devices for heart failure patients and who has an interest in bioengineering and heart disease," Hornung says.
"So we said, 'If that's what you want to do, then what do you have to learn?'" Hornung says. "This is someone who has one year of basic biomedical graduate school under his belt, so then we'll add biochemistry, physiology, etc."
The student has a mentoring team that includes experts in bioengineering, cardiology, physiology, and cardiovascular surgery.
Part of the student's education will be to work with the biomedical engineering faculty and learning metallurgy, fluid mechanics, and similar disciplines.
"Once the student has that under his belt, then the mentoring team will assess the student's educational needs with regard to engineering design, bioinstrumentation, and they'll develop a set of competencies for the student, Hornung says.
"We want the student to understand the disparities and prevalence of heart failure and to be proficient in cultural differences, gerontology, and caring for end-of-life patients," he explains. "We want him to be capable of understanding physician progress notes."
The competencies will be designed on the premise of how to take the student's research interest and research question and translate those into a research hypothesis and protocol design, Hornung says.
The researcher training also will include education on the ethical conduct of research, compliance issues, regulatory affairs issues, and scientific integrity standards.
"Then you ask what about leadership and managing a multidisciplinary team of scientists," Hornung says. "How do you execute the project and handle project management issues?"
The student will need to learn about statistics, bioinformatics, and scientific communication, including applying for grants.
All competencies necessary for the student to have this comprehensive education could be sketched out on a written plan.
With the mentoring team's assistance, the student will decide which courses to take, whose guidance to seek, and what research projects to undertake.
"Once that's done and is outlined with the mentors, then the mentoring team will say, 'If you want a master's degree in these competencies, we'll look at this and say what constitutes a curriculum and plan of study worthy of an interdisciplinary PhD degree in clinical and translational science,'" Hornung explains. "Then it will be approved, and the student will go out and do it."
Exams across disciplines
When the student completes the program courses and work, he'll sit for a qualifying exam in engineering, in physiology, and in cardiovascular disease, he adds.
"Multiple exams will be common," Hornung notes. "But what we're trying to do is have exams that cut across disciplines."
Students won't be admitted into the program until they have had a year of graduate school under their built and until they have a clear idea of what they want to do with their careers, he says.
Those admitted will take about two years of coursework and one year to 1.5 years to do the dissertation, Hornung says.
"We certainly hope this will attract the most intellectually-curious and highly capable students," he says. "As a matter of fact, at 10:30 a.m. today I interviewed an MD/PhD candidate who is interested in this kind of curriculum."
This novel approach to educating scientists can be compared with the typical education received by students at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, during the Renaissance era, Hornung says.
"If you wanted to study philosophy at Oxford, they'd hand you a long reading list and say, 'Come back in six months,'" Hornung says. "This is the same kind of individualized program where we're feeling our way through it as we go, but we're confident that it is the best way to work in research."
Biomedical research has become so sophisticated in the 21st century that future principal investigators (PIs) might need to have in-depth knowledge about more than one discipline in order to stay competitive.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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