| What is a Physician Scientist in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine? |
| Why Choose Academic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine? |
| Is the Physician Scientist Career for Me? |
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Choosing a Training Path: |
| Choosing a Training Program |
| Choosing a Supervisor |
| Searching for Your First Job |
| Launching your Physician Scientist Career |
| Tenure, Promotions and the First Ten Years |
| The Institutional Challenge to Train and Maintain Physician Scientists |
| Links and Resources |
| About the Author |
| Order This Brochure |
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| What Is A Physician Scientist in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine? | |
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A physician scientist in Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine is a laboratory physician who is trained in both scientific
investigation and in pathology and/or laboratory medicine, with or without
subspecialty training. The reason to train physician scientists is dual. On
the one hand, the physician scientist brings the rigors of scientific
investigation into the patient care arena and on the other hand, the
physician scientist's contact with disease brings clinically relevant
questions into the research arena to drive investigations into pathogenesis,
prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease. Physician
scientists form a core group who can instill the core values of academic
laboratory medicine into medical students and young trainees. In addition,
physician scientists are able to provide leadership in providing the public
information on how biomedical science is translated into public benefit. Who better to study disease than those who know it intimately? Who better to provide clinical care than those who have a facility with problem solving, hypothesis testing, and critical thinking? Both clinical care and research benefit enormously from this cross fertilization of knowledge and critical thinking. In fact, it is not uncommon that normal biological processes become better understood due to the study of the pathobiology of disease. In addition, the physician scientist is perfectly suited to the role of a transmitter of basic and clinical knowledge, especially new and emerging knowledge. The linking of high quality teaching with innovative high impact research is a very powerful educational approach to prepare medical students and residents for self directed learning that will serve them throughout their career. Health care is undergoing dramatic changes as biomedical research and technology allow us to critically explore prevailing concepts and discover new knowledge to advance new paradigms. In addition, much more consideration is being given to social, cultural, and outcome parameters of health care delivery. Pathology and laboratory medicine have led the way in the past several years to chart the new frontiers of academic medicine - in teaching, research, and clinical care. In the clinical sphere, advanced laboratory technologies are being developed and adapted to diagnose disease earlier, more accurately and with a greater ability to predict outcomes. These new technologies provide laboratory physicians additional important information that improve clinical consultations to diagnose disease early and to direct therapy in ways that surpass anything that has been available until now. The clinical tissue and human biologic material that pathologists and laboratory physicians see on a daily basis in their clinical practice provide intellectual inspiration and direction to investigate mechanisms of human disease in novel and productive ways. These investigations have led to quantum leaps in knowledge and understanding of pathogenesis. By being at the crossroads of basic science and clinical medicine, pathologists are in the enviable position of understanding how to develop appropriate in vitro and in vivo models to investigate complex mechanisms of human disease. The phenotypes arising from genetic manipulation are being thoroughly studied, including using imaging methods that effectively combine morphology and molecular biology, a powerful combination to understand genomic and proteomic function. Thus, laboratory physician scientists are in an excellent position to generate and effectively communicate new discoveries and state-of-the-art knowledge to the clinical arena. In fact, it is only through high-quality research that health care costs will be controlled by reducing the burden of disease in the population. |