Mentored Clinical Scientist Program

Mentored Clinical Scientist Program in Vascular Medicine

1 K12 HL083763-01A1

Beginning August 2008, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded a training grant entitled "Mentored Clinical Scientist Program in Vascular Medicine" at Wake Forest University Health Sciences. This three-year clinical and research training program is constructed within a framework of a mentoring team. In the first year, the trainee will participate in a comprehensive, multidisciplinary clinical core curriculum in vascular disease that will include inpatient and outpatient evaluation and management, exposure to open surgical and endovascular management, non-invasive vascular testing, and vascular imaging. This clinical training experience will be enriched by formal rotations in Neurology (stroke risk reduction and stroke management), Dermatology (wound management), Hematology (coagulation and thrombosis), and Cardiology (atherosclerotic risk assessment and risk reduction).

In the second year of training, a one-year research core curriculum will provide the trainee with didactic training to independently design and conduct clinical research. This experience will culminate in a Masters in Science Degree in Health Sciences Research. Mentoring teams will consist of one member from the clinical core and one member from Public Health Sciences to ensure the successful synthesis of clinical vascular training, mentored research, and institutional resources related to that research. The trainee will select members of the mentoring team based on shared research interests in order to maximize the trainee’s first future professional career options. The intent of this research career development program is to provide the future academic leadership who will define the discipline of vascular medicine as a unique specialty.

The salary stipend in each of the three years of training is $75,000. Trainees with educational debt will apply for federal educational debt relief via the NIH Loan Repayment Program. This program offers up to $35,000 per year in tax-free educational debt repayment for qualified trainees who are committed to the conduct of clinical research for at least twenty hours per week. This program is structured so that each trainee will be eligible in each of the three years of training.

One trainee will be recruited for the three-year program beginning August 2008, two trainees will begin August 2009, and two trainees will begin August 2010. Trainees eligible for this Career Development Training Program include all physicians with an M.D. or D.O. degree who have completed residency training. The candidates must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States of America or lawfully admitted to the United States of American for permanent residence. Foreign medical graduates must have passed the E.C.F.M.G. and U.S.M.L.E. exams. Additional information may be obtained by visiting the ECFMG website. All trainees are required to complete an application to the Wake Forest University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Wake Forest University Vascular Medicine Training Program. The applications must be accompanied by three letters of recommendation and a written personal statement defining the trainee’s career goals.