12/20/2024


ons in their long-term care seems warranted.Physicians engaged in biomedical research are well positioned to directly focus the discovery process on human biology. However, the relative proportion of investigators engaged in both caring for patients and conducting research is decreasing. To address the dwindling numbers of physician-scientists nationally, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund created the Physician-Scientist Institutional Awards Program by dedicating 25 million dollars to new initiatives at 10 degree granting, accredited medical schools in North America, awarded on the basis of institutions' proposals. The perceived barriers to physician-scientist training, program initiatives, and commitment to training a diverse group of future researchers were articulated in each application. In all, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund review committee considered 136 distinct proposals from 83 medical schools, representing 54% of all accredited medical schools in North America. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/myci361.html Barriers identified by more than one-third of the applicant institutions included the absence of both mentors and role models, student indebtedness, institutional cultures that valued clinical care delivery above the discovery process, limited prior relevant research experience, and structural barriers that limited scheduling flexibility during training. Awards were granted to institutions with programs designed to be sustainable and overcome critical, prospectively identified barriers to training and retention of physician-scientists. Potential solutions from the 10 funded programs were focused on different stages of the training experience. Though a determination about the relative success of each of the initiatives will take many years, careful consideration of the barriers identified and more general application of specific program component may be beneficial in increasing the numbers of physicians actively involved in biomedical research.Health care professionals and the institutions in which they work are being stretched to their limits amidst the current COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, a second longstanding pandemic has been brought to the fore the entrenched system of racial injustice and oppression. The first pandemic is new and to date substantial resources have been allocated to urgently addressing its mitigation; the second has a long history with inconsistent attention and resources but has recently been spotlighted more intensely than at any time in the nation's recent past. The authors of this article contend that these 2 simultaneous pandemics have brought forth the need for institutions in the United States to make a renewed commitment to respect, wellness, diversity, and inclusion. While investment and leadership in these domains have always been essential, these have largely been viewed as a "nice-to-have" option. The events of much of 2020 (most notably) have illustrated that committing to and investing in policies, programs, centers, and leadership to drive change in these domains are essential and a "need-to-have" measure. The authors outline the necessity of investing in the promotion of cultures of inclusive excellence at both individual and organizational levels to coordinate a united response to the simultaneous pandemics. It is in the interests of health care systems to consider the wellness of the workforce to overcome the longer term economic, systemic, and social trauma that will likely occur for years to come at both the individual and institutional levels. Maintaining or augmenting investment is necessary despite the economic challenges the nation faces. Now is the time to cultivate resilience and wellness through a renewed commitment to cultures of respect, diversity, and inclusion. This commitment is urgently needed to support and sustain the health care workforce and maintain outstanding health care systems for future generations.As protests against racism occur all over the United States and medical institutions face calls to incorporate antiracism and health equity curricula into professional training and patient care, the antiracism discourse has largely occurred through a Black/African American and White lens. Hispanics, an umbrella category created by the U.S. government to include all people of Spanish-speaking descent, are the largest minority group in the country. Hispanics are considered an ethnic rather than a racial group, although some Hispanics self-identify their race in terms of their ethnicity and/or country of origin while other Hispanics self-identify with any of the 5 racial categories used by the U.S. government (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander). Expanding the antiracism discourse in medicine to include Hispanic perspectives and the diversity of histories and health outcomes among Hispanic groups is crucial to addressing inequities and disparities in health and medical training. A lack of inclusion of Hispanics has contributed to a growing shortage of Hispanic physicians and medical school faculty in the United States as well as discrimination against Hispanic physicians, trainees, and patients. To reverse this negative trend and advance a health care equity and antiracist agenda, the authors offer steps that medical schools, academic medical centers, and medical accreditation and licensing bodies must take to increase the representation of Hispanics and foster their engagement in this evolving antiracism discourse.
Despite efforts to increase the representation of women in the national scientific workforce, results still lag. While women's representation in health-related sciences has increased substantially, women remain underrepresented in senior leadership roles. This study was conducted to elucidate influences at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels that present as barriers to and facilitators for advancement in research careers for women, with the goal of promoting and retaining a more diverse leadership.

The authors conducted individual, 1-hour, in-depth, semistructured interviews with 15 female early stage investigators pursuing careers in health sciences research at a large minority-serving institution in Florida in 2018. Interview guides were designed by using a social ecological framework to understand the influence of multilevel systems. Employing a qualitative approach, drawing from a phenomenological orientation, 2 researchers independently coded transcripts and synthesized codes into broad themes.