Increasing Subspecialization in the Field of Infectious Diseases: Evaluating Challenges and Strategies to Move Forward

TY - JOUR

T1 - Increasing Subspecialization in the Field of Infectious Diseases

T2 - Evaluating Challenges and Strategies to Move Forward

AU - Bonura, Erin M.

AU - Armstrong, Wendy S.

N1 - Funding Information: To foster mentorship and increase learner engagement in scholarship, the IDSA supports 3 formal programs: the IDSA Foundation Medical Scholars Program, the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) Medical Students Program, and the IDWeek Mentorship Program (Table 1). The IDSA Foundation Medical Scholars Program was established in 2002 and has awarded >600 one-time scholarships to mentored medical students in years 1–3 to pursue independent clinical or research activities. These activities most often occur over the summer after the first year of medical school and allow early exposure to a project. The HIVMA Medical Students Program was initiated in 2016 and awards a stipend to a trainee and a stipend to the mentor annually for up to 3 years. The goal is to encourage a longitudinal relationship with a mentor and to support more-extensive HIV-related projects. In only its second year, the program has already funded 30 students and distributed a cumulative 67 years of funding. Founded in 2014, the IDWeek Mentorship Program matches students, residents, and fellows with specific interests to ID faculty physicians working in those fields. The program offers networking and mentorship opportunities during IDWeek and allows students and residents to meet both an established physician and a trainee in fellowship. The program not only fosters new relationships within the ID community, but also serves to assist learners in navigating the complexity and richness of the conference experience. The program has grown annually and in 2017 matched 205 mentors with 268 mentees. SHEA now sponsors a mentorship program at their annual meeting, as well. Participants in each of these initiatives are now being followed prospectively to determine how many pursue a career in ID. Funding Information: Advocate for expansion in T32 grants Advocate for funding eligibility for international trainees in the US Expand the National Health Service Corps eligibility to include Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program–funded clinics Offer loan repayment for physicians in public health Promote value of the ID subspecialty and advocate for new compensation structures Funding Information: Another challenge facing recent fellowship graduates is concern about the viability of an academic research career. Fellowship programs have increasing difficulty funding additional fellowship years beyond the 2 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited years; however, these additional years are often critical to the development of an academic career. Increasing the number of funded T32 training grants would solve some of this problem, allowing additional training time and an enhanced curriculum. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recently announced the Next Generation Research Initiative to increase funding directed to early and mid-stage investigators and has developed early stage investigator policies applied during peer review. If successful, these interventions may improve grant paylines, thus signaling to new graduates that a successful academic career may be in reach. However, 45% of ID fellows in training are international medical graduates, and many of these trainees are not eligible for T32 training grants or mentored career awards from the NIH. Expanding eligibility to include these individuals should be strongly considered, as many are promising young investigators who add diversity to our workforce and may someday lead global ID efforts. In the setting of an NIH budget under threat, these changes may be difficult, but the future of young scientists across specialties and in academic ID settings may depend on it. Copyright: Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

KW - mentorship

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030560420&partnerID=8YFLogxK

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U2 - 10.1093/infdis/jix316

DO - 10.1093/infdis/jix316

M3 - Article

C2 - 28938043

AN - SCOPUS:85030560420

VL - 216

SP - S594-S599

JO - Journal of Infectious Diseases

JF - Journal of Infectious Diseases

SN - 0022-1899

ER -