Graduate Education for the Future: New Models and Methods for the Clinical and Translational Workforce

Abstract

This paper is the third in a five-part series on the clinical and translation science educational pipeline, and it focuses on strategies for enhancing graduate research education to improve skills for interdisciplinary team science. Although some of the most cutting edge science takes place at the borders between disciplines, it is widely perceived that advancements in clinical and translational science are hindered by the “siloed” efforts of researchers who are comfortable working in their separate domains, and reluctant to stray from their own discipline when conducting research. Without appropriate preparation for career success as members and leaders of interdisciplinary teams, talented scientists may choose to remain siloed or to leave careers in clinical and translational science all together, weakening the pipeline and depleting the future biomedical research workforce. To address this threat, it is critical to begin at what is perhaps the most formative moment for academics: graduate training. This paper focuses on designs for graduate education, and contrasts the methods and outcomes from traditional educational approaches with those skills perceived as essential for the workforce of the future, including the capacity for research collaboration that crosses disciplinary boundaries.

Experiential Graduate Course Prepares Transdisciplinary Future Leaders to Innovate at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus

“…Research universities and most graduate education programs typically focus on traditional science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) education models that emphasize expertise in highly specialized fields [31][32][33]. Through this approach, graduate students focus on a small, specific segment of science, often through densely packed curricula and highly targeted scientific investigations within their field of study [32,34,35].…”

Personas for the translational workforce

“…Behind-the-scenes motivations for investigators are equally compelling. Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in interdisciplinary work [7] in order to facilitate translation of discoveries from bench to bedside; however, interdisciplinary work faces an important stumbling block when institutional reward systems mainly benefit single-discipline, "siloed" projects. While some institutions have begun to reward interdisciplinary work in their hiring and promotion practices, as many as two-thirds of CTSAs have not yet seriously begin to consider such updates to their practices [8].…”

Revisiting Graduate Student Training to Address Agricultural and Environmental Societal Challenges

“…The courses in the example core curriculum are nontraditional and, in most cases, will require creation of new offerings. Faculty acceptance of additional teaching responsibilities may be challenging, but interdisciplinary programs are needed to address societal and workforce needs (Chakraborty et al, 2017, Van Hartesvelt and Giordan, 2008), and programs in environmental (Moslemi et al, 2009) and clinical sciences (Begg et al, 2015) have had recent successes. To facilitate instruction, a faculty team (with input and guest lectures from professionals in government agencies, industry, and non‐governmental organizations) may instruct core courses.…”