Solving the Puzzle of Recruitment and Retention—Strategies for Building a Robust Clinical and Translational Research Workforce

Abstract

This paper is the first in a five-part series on the clinical and translational science educational pipeline and presents strategies to support recruitment and retention to create diverse pathways into clinical and translational research (CTR). The strategies address multiple levels or contexts of persistence decisions and include: 1) creating a seamless pipeline by forming strategic partnerships to achieve continuity of support for scholars and collective impact; 2) providing meaningful research opportunities to support identity formation as a scientist and sustain motivation to pursue and persist in CTR careers; 3) fostering an environment for effective mentorship and peer support to promote academic and social integration; 4) advocating for institutional policies to alleviate environmental pull factors; and, 5) supporting program evaluation – particularly, the examination of longitudinal outcomes. By combining institutional policies that promote a culture and climate for diversity with quality, evidence-based programs and integrated networks of support, we can create the environment necessary for diverse scholars to progress successfully and efficiently through the pipeline to achieve NIH’s vision of a robust CTR workforce.

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

“…Without appropriate preparation for career success, we risk the loss of talented scientists in clinical and translational research. 3 To ensure adequate preparation and strengthen the pipeline, it is important to carefully consider graduate education in the sciences, a logical point of intervention for the biomedical workforce.…”

“…3 The overall goal of this series is to describe how institutions may develop an effective educational pipeline along the entire academic and career development continuum. Here, we focus on the crucial step of graduate research education as we pursue the objective of crafting training programs that will best prepare young scientists for careers in clinical and translational research.…”

Vision, Identity, and Career in the Clinical and Translational Sciences: Building upon the Formative Years

“…Th e fi rst article in this series underscored the importance of an intentional, long-term commitment to expanding pathways to clinical and translational research careers-work that should target multiple levels. 2 It argued that to be eff ective, such eff orts must extend the pipeline to include early academic and career development to ensure there is continuity of engagement and support across the various contexts that shape persistence decisions. In our followup to that article, we documented the importance of primary and secondary schools in contributing to the early formation of an identity as a scientist and to developing a vision of science as a career.…”

“…A more “robust translational research workforce” is central to this initiative, and has encouraged renewed attention to education, training, and career development opportunities at various levels of preparation . The present paper is the second in a five‐part series that explores strategies for supporting recruitment and retention across an expanded pipeline intended to create diverse pathways into clinical and translational research . Here, we focus on a crucial step early in the educational process: namely, the recruitment, retention, and advancement of promising middle and high school students to relevant career tracks.…”

Research: A viable and meaningful career alternative for occupational therapists

“…Nearing et al . () talk of the importance of meaningful, authentic and relevant research and research experiences in forming a scientist identity and sustaining motivation to pursue and persist in research careers. We all highly value the meaningful outcomes of our sustained research programmes which were motivated by a passion for wanting to make a difference.…”