Emory’s J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program is one of only three institutions nationwide selected to receive a R38 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) titled “Stimulating Access to Research in Residency” (StARR) award to address a nationwide shortage of physician scientists.
According to the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), only approximately 12-18 percent of US physicians are employed in academic research or teaching of any form. Emory’s StARR initiative will address the need for physician scientists by providing resident physicians with in-depth research experiences early in their training to prepare them for careers in the biomedical research workforce.
The Emory StARR program’s approach will include development of a structured research training program that offers in-depth training in the fundamentals of clinical and translational research, as well as creation of an Emory R38 specific mentoring program that is tailored to the training needs of resident physicians.
The program will provide individualized didactic and mentored research training by a multidisciplinary team of preceptors and dedicated time to gain skills and expertise in clinical and translational research. Training will range from one to two years depending on the resident’s needs and future career plans. The research curriculum will be spread across residency program years two and three in three-month blocks, and will also include an additional 12 months as a “chief year in research” focused on mentored research and educational leadership after the third residency year. StARR participants will also complete the requirements for board certification via the American Board of Internal Medicine and will be prepared to apply for a K38 grant upon completion of the program.
The research curriculum will include selected short coursework, seminars, and workshops focused on the fundamentals and ethics of clinical and translational research; practical research skill acquisition; effective communication; time management; understanding the flow of research funds in an academic health center; building a successful research team; job negotiation; identifying grant opportunities; and navigating an IRB and/or animal protocol.
The program’s preceptors will have mentoring experience and federally-funded research projects in the program’s target areas, including transmission; prevention; basic and applied immunology and microbiology; end-organ complications; disease management; therapeutics; pharmacology; and vaccinology.
For questions regarding the StARR program, please contact Shannon Walker at shannon.walker@emory.edu.
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