Cultivating the Pipeline of Clinician Investigators in Nephrology: A Perspective From the 2019-2020 AJKD Editorial Interns

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cultivating the Pipeline of Clinician Investigators in Nephrology

T2 - A Perspective From the 2019-2020 AJKD Editorial Interns

AU - Roehm, Bethany

AU - Yau, Amy

AU - Sohaney, Ryann

AU - Seethapathy, Harish

N1 - Funding Information: Another related financial hurdle budding clinical researchers face is the transition from fellowship to their first faculty position. Most will graduate fellowship without yet having secured funding, whether via a K award or independent funding. They will need to spend their first few years establishing relationships and mentorships at whichever institution they take their first job and applying for funding. This can be challenging if also trying to balance a full clinical load. Some institutions may be able to offer protected time, but others may not have the luxury to do so, especially in the current financial climate. Additionally, institutions may not be able to guarantee a job with protected research time that pays at the same salary as a clinical position. This may limit the pool of potential places of employment for graduating fellows. Lack of job and financial security the first few years out of fellowship may also dissuade some from going into research after fellowship. One potential solution would be to increase transparency among academic institutions interested in fostering early research careers, and making such commitments part of the job contract. This is so that graduating fellows can be confident that a realistic path, setting out clear objectives and goals, exists for them at their institution of choice. Funding Information: Aspiring clinician investigators pursuing a postdoctoral research fellowship gain valuable research training through formal coursework and structured mentorship. This structure is essential to ensuring a pipeline of high-quality research endeavors; however, it comes at the cost of delayed personal financial health. This is particularly relevant considering the large cost of medical education and that this time period often coincides with new or growing family obligations. Student loan debt disproportionately affects individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, which may create barriers to recruitment and retention of individuals underrepresented in medicine. Aspiring clinician investigators can mitigate the financial impact of extended training by competing for the NIH Loan Repayment Program. This program, offering up to $100,000 of loan repayment over 2 years, has an encouraging new applicant success rate for the Clinical Research Program of 46%. 5 Institutions dedicated to creating environments of diversity and inclusion should also take note of the American Society of Nephrology’s loan mitigation pilot program. 6 This program is committing to invest $2.7 million to support trainees considering nephrology as a career, with an initial focus to reach individuals racially underrepresented in medicine. We are optimistic this program will enrich the diversity of nephrology researchers.

PY - 2021/8

Y1 - 2021/8

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106460461&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85106460461&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1053/j.ajkd.2021.01.016

DO - 10.1053/j.ajkd.2021.01.016

M3 - Editorial

C2 - 33785368

AN - SCOPUS:85106460461

SN - 0272-6386

VL - 78

SP - 171

EP - 173

JO - American Journal of Kidney Diseases

JF - American Journal of Kidney Diseases

IS - 2

ER -