The current rapid pace of scientific discovery, particularly at the cellular, genomic, and molecular levels, offers unprecedented opportunities for direct application of basic scientific findings to the problem of gastrointestinal disease. This progress will be optimized by providing rigorous training in basic scientific thought and technique to a select group of gastrointestinal surgeons who are already directed towards academic leadership.
The Specific Aim of this program, currently in its tenth year of funding, is to provide formal, basic scientific training to this select group of individuals as an integral component of their postgraduate clinical training. One trainee per year is competitively selected from those entering the Gl Surgery training program at Johns Hopkins. During the first three years of postgraduate clinical training, this trainee is guided to choose a senior investigator/mentor from our list of participating faculty, all of whom have demonstrated an outstanding record of independent basic scientific achievement, as well as an established record of successful trainee mentorship. The formal scientific training period begins after the third clinical year, and lasts for three consecutive years. This training period is uninterrupted by clinical duties, and includes formal training in research ethics as well as other elective course work tailored to individual interests and capabilities. All trainees are assigned an Individual Progress Committee charged with critiquing the trainee's research, monitoring long-term progress towards an independent investigative career, and aiding in the selection of appropriate course work. The environment for training in basic gastrointestinal research is includes the graduate program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, in which selected trainees may be awarded a Ph.D. degree, the NIDDK-funded Johns Hopkins Digestive Diseases Basic Research Develoment Center, and the NCI-funded Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. The specific recruitment of underrepresented minorities to this program is enhanced by the activities of the School of Medicine's Office for Diversity, as well as a specific relationship between this training program and the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. Trainees successfully completing the program continue to be mentored through the completion of their clinical training, and are frequently brought on as junior faculty with substantial protected time and additional research support. As a result, finishing trainees have been highly competitive for mentored grant support (e.g. K08 or career development award). In this manner, the program is designed to generate a highly selected group of Gl surgeon-scientists who will provide academic leadership for the 21st century.
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