PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Pediatric Scientist Development Program provides research training and career development support for pediatricians committed to careers in academic medicine. The PSDP offers an intense, full-time experience in basic, translational, or clinical research training in eminent research laboratories in the U.S. and Canada. Up to three years of research training are funded by the Program after the completion of the clinical fellowship years. A sponsoring pediatric department assumes responsibility for support of clinical fellowship apart from the circumstances described below. No clinical duties are allowed during the first two years of PSDP-supported training.

This Program provides a training environment in which talented young pediatricians address central problems in child health with the most current scientific tools. Ultimately, these pediatric scientists, dedicated to continuing careers in basic, translational, and clinical research, will translate research advances to improvements in clinical care for children.

The Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, Inc. (AMSPDC) acts as the sponsoring organization. In a unique collaborative arrangement, funding is derived from grants from the Eunice Shriver Kennedy NICHD and numerous private agencies and foundations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Pediatric Society, Sick Kids Foundation (Toronto), Paediatric Chairs of Canada, March of Dimes, and St. Jude Children's Research Foundation.

PROGRAM DESIGN

The PSDP provides two to three years of support for pediatricians with an M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degree who will devote themselves to academic careers with a strong research component. Candidates must be nominated for the PSDP by the Chair of the department in which residency training is to be completed (nominating chair). The Chair of the department in which the candidate has been accepted for clinical fellowship training must also contribute a letter of support (sponsoring chair) stipulating that the candidate will have no clinical responsibilities for the first two years of PSDP funding, with the exception of candidates that propose patient-oriented research or translational research (see "Eligibility" section).

Those candidates selected for PSDP funding will pursue the following career path:

• One year of clinical fellowship training in a sub-specialty area, to provide trainees with sub-board eligibility. Funding for this training is the responsibility of the trainee's sponsoring department. Subspecialty programs such as cardiology, critical care, emergency medicine, and neonatology may be extending their clinical requirements to 18-24 months. In these cases, more than one year of clinical fellowship training may be required (see additional details in “Eligibility” section).
• Two to three years of PSDP-supported research training, typically in a laboratory outside the sponsoring department of pediatrics, in a field applicable to a pediatric subspecialty. These are the only years of training funded by the PSDP. In most cases, PSDP training will take place at the sponsoring institution and will be preferably provided by senior investigators in basic science departments, or by epidemiologists, statisticians, or health policy experts who hold primary faculty appointments in a school of public health. The PSDP requires that the first two years of research training be devoted to full-time work in the laboratory, uninterrupted by clinical duties. Candidates proposing patient-oriented research or translational research that requires patient contact may request up to 10% clinical time in years one and two. This request must be incorporated as a part of the initial PSDP application. Candidates selected for a third year of funding may commit 15% time to clinical work.
• Two years of continued support in a faculty position that provides at least 75% time for research. Funding for these two faculty years can be provided by the nominating institution, by the sponsoring institution, or by any other department of pediatrics that commits to 75% protected time for research. The nominating department must guarantee its best efforts in identifying such a position, but the PSDP Fellow is free to consider competing offers from other departments, including the sponsoring department. Time not spent in research (25%) is available for teaching and clinical service.

SALARY

First Year: Salary Cap ($65,000) plus 15% fringe benefits and $20,000 to the research mentor's laboratory for supplies and travel.

Second Year: Salary Cap ($70,000) plus 15% fringe benefits and $20,000 to the research mentor's laboratory for supplies and travel.

Third Year: Salary Cap ($75,000) plus 15% fringe benefits and $20,000 to the research mentor's laboratory for supplies and travel. Third year support is awarded by a separate application process to those candidates attaining satisfactory progress during the first 18 months.