Abstract
Recent national reports and commentaries on the current status and needs of the U.S. biomedical research workforce have highlighted the limited career development opportunities for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees in academia, yet little attention is paid to preparation for career pathways outside of the traditional faculty path. Recognizing this issue, in 2013, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund issued a request for application titled "NIH Director's Biomedical Research Workforce Innovation Award: Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST)." These 5-yr 1-time grants, awarded to 17 single or partnering institutions, were designed to develop sustainable approaches to broaden graduate and postgraduate training, aimed at creating training programs that reflect the range of career options that trainees may ultimately pursue. These institutions have formed a consortium in order to work together to develop, evaluate, share, and disseminate best practices and challenges. This is a first report on the early experiences of the consortium and the scope of participating BEST programs. In this report, we describe the state of the U.S. biomedical workforce and development of the BEST award, variations of programmatic approaches to assist with program design without BEST funding, and novel approaches to engage faculty in career development programs. To test the effectiveness of these BEST programs, external evaluators will assess their outcomes not only over the 5 yr grant period but also for an additional 10 yr beyond award completion.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 507-514 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | FASEB Journal |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1 2016 |
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Keywords
- Career development
- Ph.D.
- Postdoctoral trainee
- Professional development
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biotechnology
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Cite this
The origin and implementation of the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training programs : An NIH common fund initiative. / Meyers, Frederick J; Mathur, Ambika; Fuhrmann, Cynthia N.; O'Brien, Theresa C.; Wefes, Inge; Labosky, Patricia A.; Duncan, D'anne S.; August, Avery; Feig, Andrew; Gould, Kathleen L.; Friedlander, Michael J.; Schaffer, Chris B.; Van Wart, Audra; Chalkley, Roger.
In: FASEB Journal, Vol. 30, No. 2, 01.02.2016, p. 507-514.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The origin and implementation of the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training programs
T2 - An NIH common fund initiative
AU - Meyers, Frederick J
AU - Mathur, Ambika
AU - Fuhrmann, Cynthia N.
AU - O'Brien, Theresa C.
AU - Wefes, Inge
AU - Labosky, Patricia A.
AU - Duncan, D'anne S.
AU - August, Avery
AU - Feig, Andrew
AU - Gould, Kathleen L.
AU - Friedlander, Michael J.
AU - Schaffer, Chris B.
AU - Van Wart, Audra
AU - Chalkley, Roger
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - Recent national reports and commentaries on the current status and needs of the U.S. biomedical research workforce have highlighted the limited career development opportunities for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees in academia, yet little attention is paid to preparation for career pathways outside of the traditional faculty path. Recognizing this issue, in 2013, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund issued a request for application titled "NIH Director's Biomedical Research Workforce Innovation Award: Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST)." These 5-yr 1-time grants, awarded to 17 single or partnering institutions, were designed to develop sustainable approaches to broaden graduate and postgraduate training, aimed at creating training programs that reflect the range of career options that trainees may ultimately pursue. These institutions have formed a consortium in order to work together to develop, evaluate, share, and disseminate best practices and challenges. This is a first report on the early experiences of the consortium and the scope of participating BEST programs. In this report, we describe the state of the U.S. biomedical workforce and development of the BEST award, variations of programmatic approaches to assist with program design without BEST funding, and novel approaches to engage faculty in career development programs. To test the effectiveness of these BEST programs, external evaluators will assess their outcomes not only over the 5 yr grant period but also for an additional 10 yr beyond award completion.
AB - Recent national reports and commentaries on the current status and needs of the U.S. biomedical research workforce have highlighted the limited career development opportunities for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees in academia, yet little attention is paid to preparation for career pathways outside of the traditional faculty path. Recognizing this issue, in 2013, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund issued a request for application titled "NIH Director's Biomedical Research Workforce Innovation Award: Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST)." These 5-yr 1-time grants, awarded to 17 single or partnering institutions, were designed to develop sustainable approaches to broaden graduate and postgraduate training, aimed at creating training programs that reflect the range of career options that trainees may ultimately pursue. These institutions have formed a consortium in order to work together to develop, evaluate, share, and disseminate best practices and challenges. This is a first report on the early experiences of the consortium and the scope of participating BEST programs. In this report, we describe the state of the U.S. biomedical workforce and development of the BEST award, variations of programmatic approaches to assist with program design without BEST funding, and novel approaches to engage faculty in career development programs. To test the effectiveness of these BEST programs, external evaluators will assess their outcomes not only over the 5 yr grant period but also for an additional 10 yr beyond award completion.
KW - Career development
KW - Ph.D.
KW - Postdoctoral trainee
KW - Professional development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85010831561&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85010831561&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1096/fj.15-276139
DO - 10.1096/fj.15-276139
M3 - Review article
C2 - 26432783
AN - SCOPUS:85010831561
VL - 30
SP - 507
EP - 514
JO - FASEB Journal
JF - FASEB Journal
SN - 0892-6638
IS - 2
ER -