Promoting Translational and Clinical Science (PDF, 62 pages - 1MB)

Washington, D.C., June 7, 2006 — The nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals must take a leading role to increase the number of U.S. physician-scientists available to follow up on recent scientific advances, according to a new report by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). "Promoting Translational and Clinical Science: The Critical Role of Medical Schools and Teaching Hospitals," makes recommendations on how academic medical institutions can attract, nurture, and support more translational and clinical physician-scientists.

"Medical schools and teaching hospitals have a special obligation to ensure that the promise of biomedical research makes its way to the patient's bedside," said AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. "These guidelines will help achieve that goal by providing a roadmap to attract and nurture the next generations of these researchers."

The guidelines were developed by the AAMC Task Force II on Clinical Research, chaired by Steven Gabbe M.D., dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. In their report, the task force recommends ways in which medical schools and teaching hospitals can make the fields of translational and clinical research more attractive, viable and valued career options, to stimulate the translation of biomedical research advances into patient benefits.

Among the task force's key recommendations:

• Require medical schools and residency programs to educate all students and residents in the fundamental principles of translational and clinical science. Ensuring that physicians can effectively interpret and evaluate the significance of new discoveries published in the medical literature will better enable them to improve their practices, explain research findings to their patients, and refer them to clinical trials when appropriate. Exposing medical students to this research early in their education will also help stimulate them to consider careers in these disciplines.

• Accelerate the preparation of physician scientists by revising the structure of research training in undergraduate, graduate, and fellowship education. Modifying the structure of medical school and residency programs to accommodate research tracks, and requiring a more rigorous, mentored postdoctoral graduate training experience will help researchers be better prepared to secure independent research funding earlier in their careers and be more successful junior faculty members.

• Implement institutional changes to ensure that translational and clinical research and training is a cornerstone of the core mission of academic medicine. Academic institutions, journals, the federal government, and other research sponsors should work together to recognize, appropriately credit, and reward the contributions of researchers to team science, thereby facilitating their career advancement.

The AAMC Task Force II on Clinical Research first convened in February 2005. Members of the task force examined best practices at academic medical institutions for training and nurturing translational and clinical scientists; reviewed data on federal support for research training and trends in federal grant awards; and evaluated various structures for organizing, administering, and governing translational and clinical research in medical schools and teaching hospitals. The report of the AAMC Task Force II on Clinical Research builds on the work of an earlier AAMC task force on clinical research (2000) and the report in 2001 of an AAMC expert panel on "Clinical Research in Medical Education."

To download a free copy of this report, go to www.aamc.org/promotingclinicalscience

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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