The NIH “BEST” programs: Institutional programs, the program evaluation, and early data

Abstract

Biomedical research training has undergone considerable change over the past several years. At its core, the goal of graduate and postdoctoral training is to provide individuals with the skills and knowledge to become outstanding scientists and expand knowledge through the scientific method. Historically, graduate school training has focused on preparation for academic positions. Increasingly, however, a shift toward preparation for a wider range of career options has emerged. This is largely because most biomedical PhD graduates do not become Principal Investigators in academic laboratories. Here we describe an National Institutes of Health Common Fund program with the major goal of culture change for biomedical research training and training that prepares individuals for a broader expanse of careers in the biomedical research enterprise. These “Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training” (BEST) awards, issued in 2012 and 2013, provided support to institutions to develop innovative approaches to achieving these goals, as a complement to traditional training. Awardees were tasked with catalyzing change at their institutions and sharing best practices across the training community. Awardees were required to participate in a cross‐site evaluation that assessed the impact of BEST activities on three main areas: (a) trainee confidence and knowledge to make career decisions, (b) influence of this added activity on time in training, and (c) ability of the institutions to sustain activities deemed to be beneficial. Here we present the fundamental approach to the BEST program and early evaluative data.

Measuring effects of trainee professional development on research productivity: A cross-institutional meta-analysis

“…Program activities ranged from single events to multi-part workshop series or coursework, as well as experiential learning activities, such as site visits, internships, and individual training sessions. One-off workshops were the most common activity each year for all of the programs (8). Institutions also deployed a wide range of activities differently, allowing trainees to participate through specific phases, by sector, by career interests, ad hoc, or some combination thereof.…”

Career planning courses increase career readiness of graduate and postdoctoral trainees

“…In addition, while the data is inconclusive, administrative career-focused staff (e.g., career and professional development staff) may have become a newly utilized resource – and almost certainly added to the potential mentor-pool from which trainees may choose to draw. The development of additional resources to support doctoral trainee career transitions (e.g., NIH BEST programs; Lara et al, 2020 ; Lenzi et al, 2020 ; NIH, 2012 ) is of growing national interest (e.g., [ Blank et al, 2017 ; Benderly, 2015 ; FOBGAPT, 2017 ; Stayart et al, 2018 ); one solution to workforce preparation in graduate education includes the use of staff trained to provide guidance and resources leading up to and during this transition to the workforce. Furthermore, the focus on career transitions and career outcomes is especially salient currently due to the federal focus that has recently been introduced to encourage development of more such programs (e.g., federal training grants such as NIH/NIGMS T-32 including career development training requirements and career outcome reporting; Gammie et al, 2017 ); hence, it seems likely that the importance of shepherding trainees through career transitions will only continue to gain importance.…”

“…Biomedical Career Path Familiarity . Using a four-point scale ranging from 1 ( Not at all familiar ) to 5 ( Very familiar ), participants were asked to rate how familiar they were with 15 career paths (mirroring NIH BEST Consortium baseline survey; Lenzi et al, 2020 ). The items were summed with higher average ratings indicating more career path familiarity.…”

“…To encourage these efforts, NIH established the Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (NIH BEST; Lenzi et al, 2020 ; Meyers et al, 2016 ) and the National Science Foundation established Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN; Tornow et al , 2018 ). The motivation of national funding agencies such as these to prioritize creation of career development programs and services for biomedical doctoral and postdoctoral trainees is based on evidence that graduates lack training and exposure to options that reflect the wide variety of labor market opportunities associated with the diverse biomedical industry in the United States, especially among those who remain for an extended period in post-doctoral positions ( NIH, 2012 ).…”

The Costs and Benefits of a Modified Biomedical Science Workforce

“…Numerous reports identify important professional skills that will be useful for trainees regardless of their final choice of profession (12,15,16). The NIH Director's Biomedical Research Workforce Innovation Award: Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) supported efforts at 17 institutions to develop innovative approaches to prepare trainees for a broader range of careers (17,18). Collectively, these efforts have produced changes alleviating some of the issues viewed as threats to the enterprise.…”