The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary federal agency responsible for conducting and supporting biomedical, health, and behavioral research. The agency also provides critical support for training the biomedical research workforce. In 2021, the total NIH funding was $42.9 billion, of which approximately 2.2% ($952 million) was dedicated for individual and institutional research training awards.Between 1947 and 1963, federal funding for biomedical research increased at an average annual rate of approximately 25%, with most of this funding provided to the NIH. In 1953, some of these resources were used to launch a new NIH program designed to develop the future workforce needed to advance health research-the Associate Training Program, which included clinical, research, and staff associates. 1 Fifteen clinical associates were competitively selected to form the inaugural cohort from scores of applicants, which included physicians and dentists. The clinical associates participated in clinical and laboratory research and were required to engage in primary patient care responsibilities in the NIH Clinical Center.In the late 1950s, the program was expanded to include research associates who were not involved in direct patient care-their training focused on laboratory research methods. In the early 1960s, the associate program expanded further to include a third category: staff associates, physicians trained to become research administrators. All associates were assigned senior mentors, provided research resources, and exposed to an intensive period of interdisciplinary training in clinical and laboratory research. Their experiences involved didactic courses on laboratory and clinical research methods, study design, biostatistics, and teaching assignments were part of the experience too. 1 At this same time, the United States grew evermore involved in the Korean and Vietnam wars. Graduates from medical schools during this period were required to perform military service in some capacity. The Associate Training Program was one of a few opportunities that could satisfy compulsory military service requirements that did involve military combat assignments. From inception, the program was dominated by graduates from medical schools in the northeastern corridor: Harvard, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia. Applications to the associate program surged, and competition for placements was fiercely competitive; for example, in 1 year, 50 associates were selected from nearly 1500 applicants. Program participants satirically referred to themselves as members of the Yellow Berets as a comment on their avoidance of military service. 1 The outcomes from this program are nothing short of impressive. 2 Participants in the Associate Training Program were 1.5 times more likely to become a full professor, 2 times more likely to become an academic department chair, and 3 times more likely to become dean of a college. Associates typically held positions at top-ranked institutions, comprising 25% of the professors of medicine a...