Education, Training and Career Choices: Training Basic, Clinical, and Translational Investigators

Advances in biomedical science today provide an unprecedented opportunity to impact on human health. The translation of scientific and technological advances into better health requires the training of physician-scientists and non-physician-scientists in clinical and translational investigation. We present here a model for such training that incorporates (1) participation in a core didactic curriculum, (2) concentration in a scientific field through a mentored research apprenticeship, and (3) participation in career and leadership development activities. We detail the content of each component in the context of broad needs and needs specific to the patient-oriented researcher or "T-1" translational researcher and the epidemiologist, health outcomes researcher, population-based researcher or "T-2 through T-4" translational researcher.