FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 346:368-372 January 31, 2002 Number 5 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text PDF PDA Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

The pool of physician-scientists is dwindling, as it has been for more than two decades.^1,2 There are many reasons for this problem,^{3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17} but the most important one involves the initial decision whether to pursue a career in research.^16,17

When considering a career as a physician-scientist, students must weigh their interest in research against three factors: accumulated debt, a long period of training, and the uncertainty of success. These factors deter many persons from pursuing careers in research. In 1983, the total number of physicians in the United States was 479,439, and the number of physician-scientists was 18,535 (3.9 percent of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Two Career Paths, Two Distinct Fates

The Debt Burden of Late Bloomers

Loan Repayment as an Economic Incentive

Addressing the Noneconomic Impediments

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Andriole, D. A., Whelan, A. J., Jeffe, D. B. (2008). Characteristics and Career Intentions of the Emerging MD/PhD Workforce. JAMA 300: 1165-1173 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rosenberg, L. E. (2008). MD/PhD Programs--A Call for an Accounting. JAMA 300: 1208-1209 [Full Text]  
• Rahal, A., Head, H. W., Jung, A. J., Garcia-Rojas, X., Vargas, D., Dalrymple, N. C., Clarke, G. D., Dodd, G. D. III, Fullerton, G. D. (2007). Combined Radiology Residency/PhD Program for Education of Academic Radiologists: A Response to Revitalizing the Radiology Research Enterprise. Radiology 245: 14-20 [Full Text]  
• Weinert, C. R., Billings, J., Ryan, R., Ingbar, D. H. (2006). Academic and Career Development of Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician-Scientists. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 173: 23-31 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ley, T. J., Rosenberg, L. E. (2005). The Physician-Scientist Career Pipeline in 2005: Build It, and They Will Come. JAMA 294: 1343-1351 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gammack, J. K., Rudolph, J. L., Adedokun, A., Hirth, V., Kevorkian, R., Misra, S. (2004). Perceptions of Geriatric Medicine Junior Faculty on Success in Academic Medicine: The Saint Louis University Geriatric Academy (SLUGA) Faculty Development Program. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 59: M1029-M1035 [Full Text]  
• Bean-Mayberry, B., Gordon, A. J., Fultz, S. L. (2004). The Debt Repayment Paradox for VA Clinical Investigators. JAMA 291: 2316-2316 [Full Text]  
• Kotchen, T. A., Lindquist, T., Malik, K., Ehrenfeld, E. (2004). NIH Peer Review of Grant Applications for Clinical Research. JAMA 291: 836-843 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nelson, F. R. T. (2004). The Orthopaedic Surgeon's Standard of Living Versus Quality of Life. JBJS 86: 182-183 [Full Text]  
• Kaushansky, K. (2003). Physician-Scientists: Preparation, Opportunities, and National Need. Exp. Biol. Med. 228: 1258-1260 [Full Text]  
• Nathan, D. G., Wilson, J. D. (2003). Clinical Research and the NIH -- A Report Card. NEJM 349: 1860-1865 [Full Text]  
• Sung, N. S., Crowley, W. F. Jr, Genel, M., Salber, P., Sandy, L., Sherwood, L. M., Johnson, S. B., Catanese, V., Tilson, H., Getz, K., Larson, E. L., Scheinberg, D., Reece, E. A., Slavkin, H., Dobs, A., Grebb, J., Martinez, R. A., Korn, A., Rimoin, D. (2003). Central Challenges Facing the National Clinical Research Enterprise. JAMA 289: 1278-1287 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nathan, D. G. (2002). Careers in Translational Clinical Research--Historical Perspectives, Future Challenges. JAMA 287: 2424-2427 [Full Text]