The CHOP proposes a program with the explicit goal of increasing the number of pediatric subspecialists who are interested in careers in academic medicine by providing the research experiences and tools they need to build research programs. We propose a multi-year research training program, the first two years of which are supported by this training grant and which combines 1) mentored research training opportunities in a wide variety of clinical and laboratory research areas; 2) the opportunity for structured course work at the University of Pennsylvania or through off-site intensive training courses; 3) careful selection and monitoring of progress of individual trainees, mentoring, and the overall success of the training program; and 4) participation at the CHOP Core Course and Stokes Seminar Series, which provides an emphasis on skills, accomplishments and understanding critical to success in an academic career. The paramount principle of the program will be that the training needs to be tailored to the individual. The Program Directors will meet with interested fellows in the clinical years of subspecialty training to help them select a research area and mentor according to their interests, needs and background and to consider what type of educational opportunities, including entering a formal degree-granting program, would best address any inadequacies in their scientific or methodological repertoire. The individualized program will be shaped in the year before formal entry into the research training program but will also be subject to continuing review with appropriate modification. The training faculty consists of 46 mentors from a wide range of specialty areas who have strong records as mentors and productive investigators, who have competed successfully for NIH and other funding, and who have interacted with each other. The program can offer fellows research training in a wide range of basic and clinical research areas, and 26 of our mentors are M.D.s and will serve not only as mentors but also as role models. It is expected that entry into this program will be highly competitive given the large and strong pool of subspecialty fellows at CHOP. The program will build upon CHOP's strengths as a pediatric academic institution with an outstanding pool of subspecialty fellows, experienced mentors with cutting edge research programs, a well supported and resource rich research environment, and a proven tradition of research training.
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