|
Items in cart [0] |
Questions? Call 888-624-8373 |
| Copyright © 2009. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Statement |
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 11
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Every year a fraction of freshmen at U.S. colleges and
universities indicate their interest in becoming research sci-
entists (Dey et al., 1991~. Fluctuating between 1 and 3
percent of each entering class since 1979, these students
represent a small but important component of the talent pool
from which the future leaders of U.S. science and technol-
ogy will emerge. The early expression of interest in a sci-
ence career comes after many years of exposure to science
and mathematics in primary and secondly schools. It will
be followed by many more years of careful preparation cul-
minating in the attainment of a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
degree or other research doctorate.
Given the lengthy process of converting aspirants into
researchers, it should come as no surprise that many changes
take place in the size and composition of that talent pool as
these students, and others, move into and out of the research
training and career track. It is the fluid nature of this path
toward a scientific career that has led the federal govern-
ment to initiate programs and policies aimed at fostering the
development of the human resource base in science and
technology. Among the numerous sources of graduate and
postdoctoral support, the National Research Service Awards
DORSAL program is unique. Through a competitive pro-
gram of individual and institutional support, the NRSA pro-
gram promotes He development of a pool of skilled scien-
tists in specific areas of "national need." It is a program of
support that traces its roots to early efforts by the federal
government to link the development of research areas with
Gaining, the fundamental assumption being Hat the quality
of the research enterprise depends on the talents of indi-
viduals attracted to a career in research (Lenfant, 1989~.
(See Appendix A for a brief history of He NRSA program.)
The subject of this report is He future direction of that pro-
gram given anticipated changes in the delivery of health
care, exciting developments in health research, and impor
11
tent changes in the composition of the biomedical and be-
havioral sciences work force.
ORIGINS OF THE STUDY
For nearly 20 years, the National Research Council
(NRC) has played an active role in the ongoing review of
training opportunities available to individuals seeking ad-
vanced preparation in He biomedical and behavioral sci-
ences. During this time, NRC has issued nine reports de-
scribing the optimal structure of the NRSA program given
national requirements for heal~-related research scientists
and available training opportunities.
The involvement of the NRC in the assessment of na-
tional needs for biomedical and behavioral research scien-
tists originates in the National Research Service Award Act
of 1974 (P.L. 93-348), which abolished all previous train-
ing authorities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
and consolidated Raining into a single Gaining authority.
The legislation stipulated that these awards should be re-
stricted to subject areas for which Here is a need for per-
sonnel (see Box 1-1~.
The same legislation directed the Secretary of Health and
Human Services (as He department is known today) to ar-
range for a continuing study of "national needs" and to re-
quest that the National Academy of Sciences conduct a
study that would, in part, establish the subject areas in which
such personnel are needed (see Box 1-2~.
Since 1975, the NRC the principal operating arm of
the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medi-
cine, and He National Academy of Engineering-has sub-
mitted nine reports to the Secretary in response to this re-
quest for advice. This report, the tenth in the series,
responds to the Congressional charge and provides addi-
tional information requested by NIH.
OCR for page 12
MEETING ME NATIONS NEEDS FOR BIOMEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENTISTS
BOX 1-1 The National Research Service Award Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-348)
FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSE
Sec. 102. (a) Congress finds and declares that-
(1) the success and continued viability of the Federal biomedical and behavioral research effort de-
pends on the availability of excellent scientists and a network of institutions of excellence capable
of producing superior research personnel;
(2) direct support of the training of scientists for careers in biomedical and behavioral research is an
appropriate and necessary role for the Federal Government; and
(3) graduate research assistance programs should be the key elements in the training programs of the
institutes of the National Institutes of Health and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Ad-
ministration.
(b) It is the purpose of this title to increase the capability of the institutes of the National Institutes of Health
and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration to carry out their responsibility of
maintaining a superior national program of research into the physical and mental disease and impair
ments of man ...
NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS
Sec. 472. (a) a. (3) Effective July 1, 1975, National Research Service Awards may be made for research or research
training in only those subject areas for which' as determined under section 473, there is a need for personnel ...
CHARGE TO TO COMMITTEE
Previous NRC reports have provided guidance to NIH
and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Heals Adminis-
tration (ADAMHA) relative to the appropriate size and
composition of the NRSA program. Recommendations
have been made on the number of research training posi-
tions to be supported, and these recommendations have been
used by NIH and ADAMHA staff during the budget formu-
lation and by the U.S. Congress during the appropriations
process (NIH, 1992~. Once again the agency requested that
NRC estimate the future demand for researchers, estimate
the current supply, and, using estimates of the future de-
mand and knowledge of He current balance between supply
and demand, make recommendations on the appropriate size
of the NRSA program.
In addition to these core activities, NIH also requested
assistance in assessing the effectiveness of the NRSA pro-
gram by gathering and analyzing information on such is-
sues as the adequacy of current stipends to attract talented
individuals into research careers in the biomedical and be
havioral sciences. Furthermore, the agency directed NRC
to review the mathematical projection models of supply and
demand used by previous NRC study committees and to
establish their adequacy in addressing "national needs" is-
sues in the 1990s. In response to this request, the commit-
tee developed a f~ve-part study plan.
THE COMMlTTEE,S STUDY PLAN
DeHmition of the Study Population
The first step in undertaking this study was to develop a
list of fields that were understood to define each of six broad
areas of training. The definition of the study population is
critical to the success of this analytic effort because He field
taxonomy (see Appendix B) establishes He categories for data
analysis. Thus, the basic biomedical sciences are understood
to include biochemistry, molecular biology, and the like,
whereas the behavioral sciences include psychology, soci-
ology, anthropology, and speech and hearing sciences. Field
matching was Hen made possible among data bases main-
tained by NIH, He National Science Foundation, NRC, He
Association of American Medical Colleges, and American
Association of Colleges of Nursing, among others.
Field matching in He clinical sciences proved more dif-
ficult. As we embarked on He study, representatives of the
dental research community indicated to us that they consid-
ered their field code too restrictive, not accurately reflecting
the diverse nature of Heir research base. The committee,
Trough its staff representatives, conducted extensive con-
sultative sessions win staff of the National Institute for
Dental Research (NIDR), and from these sessions the con-
cept of "oral health research" emerged. A workshop was
organized to assess the market for oral health research per-
sonnel and the results were incorporated in the committee' s
12
I!
:`
Pi
l
1
1
1
1
OCR for page 13
INTRODUCTION
deliberations (see Chapter 6 of this report). Thus, individu-
als familiar with He taxonomy used by earlier NRC study
committees should be aware that a new field designation
has been developed for the area of research training for-
merly designated "dental science" research training.
With regard to He clinical sciences more broadly de-
f~ned, the committee has concentrated its attention this year
on the continuing need to recruit physician-scientists into
the research career paw. This critical group of scientific
workers includes individuals holding medical doctorates and
those with combined medical and research doctorates (see
Chapter 5~.
Because of the special market for nurses who pursue ad-
vanced preparation in research, this report includes a sepa-
rate assessment of research training needs in nursing re-
search (see Chapter 7~. Nursing research personnel are
generally defined as individuals holding both a degree in
nursing and a Ph.D. Because of the wide variety of doctoral
specialties pursued by these investigators, we have not
specified degree or employment specialties of these re-
searchers. Rather, we consider nursing research personnel
to include individuals holding both a degree in nursing and
a research doctorate in a wide variety of areas.
Finally, we have devoted a chapter in this report (Chap-
ter 8) to a consideration of health services research person-
nel. Certain of the institutes of health provide research train-
ing in areas related to the improvement of health care
delivery, such as drug abuse prevention studies. Our report
concentrates, however, on the newly emerging market for
research scientists stimulated by the establishment of He
Agency for Heals Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in
1989. This agency now serves as He organizational locus
within the federal government for studies of such health
care reform issues as He reduction of heals care costs, the
quality of care for He aged, and the overall health status of
Americans, drawing investigators from a wide variety of
disciplines. Unfortunately, detailed information about the
population of heals services research personnel in the
BOX 1-2 Stuclies Regarding Biomedical and Behavioral Research Personnel (P.~. 93-348)
Sec. 473. (2) The Secretary shall, in accordance with subsection (b), arrange for the conduct of a continuing study to-
(1) establish (A) the Nation's overall need for biomedical and behavioral research personnel, (B) the
subject areas in which such personnel are needed and the number of such personnel needed in
each such area, and (C) the kinds and extent of training which should be provided such personnel;
(2) assess (A) current training programs available for the training of biomedical and behavioral research
personnel which are conducted under this Act at orthrough institutes under the National Institutes of
Health and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, and (B) other current train-
ing programs available for the training of such personnel;
(3) identify the kinds of research positions available to and held by individuals completing such pro-
grams;
(4) determine, to the extent feasible, whether the programs referred to in clause (B) or paragraph (2)
would be adequate to meet the needs established under paragraph (1 ) if the programs referred to in
clause (A) of paragraph (2) were terminated; and
(5) determine what modifications in the programs referred to in paragraph (2) are required to meet the
needs established under paragraph (1~.
(b) (1) The Secretary shall request the National Academy of Sciences to conduct the study required by
subsection (a) under an arrangement under which the actual expenses incurred by such Academy
in conducting such study will be paid by the Secretary. If the National Academy of Sciences is willing
to do so, the Secretary shall enter into such an arrangement with such Academy for the conduct of
such study.
(2) If the National Academy of Sciences is unwilling to conduct such study under such an arrangement,
then the Secretary shall enter into a similar arrangement with other appropriate nonprofit private
groups or associations under which such groups or associations will conduct such study and pre-
pare and submit the reports thereon as provided in subsection (c).
(c) A report on the results of such study shall be submitted by the Secretary to the Committee on Interstate
and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representative and the Committee on Labor and Public Wel
fare of the Senate not later than March 31 of each year...
13
OCR for page 14
MEETING THE NATION'S NEEDS FOR BIOMEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENTISTS
United States was last available in the 1970s when NRC
conducted a number of specialized surveys of these scien-
tists (see, for example, NRC, 1977~. In the absence of sys-
tematic information about the study population, we have
drawn on membership information from the Association of
Health Services Research (AHSR) to develop a profile of
selected-if not key portions of that work force. As the
demand for these specialists continues to grow, we hope
that future study committees will be in a better position to
specify the overall size of the health services research labor
force and trends in training and employment. In the mean-
time, we have elected to base our training recommendations
on the obvious immediate need to address current low lev-
els of training in health services research through an expan-
sion of the NRSA program administered by AHCPR to meet
anticipated demand.
Panel on Estimation Procedures
To review mathematical and other models of supply and
demand, the committee convened a panel of experts whose
work continues beyond preparation of this report. The Panel
on Estimation Procedures was formed to evaluate the ad-
equacy of current models for estimating training needs in
the broad fields comprising this study and to recommend
new directions for enhancing models and for improving data
collection needed to implement models in the future. A
preliminary summary of their work may be found in the
next chapter.
Call for a Public Hearing
Another important component of this study effort was a
1-day Public Hearing convened by the committee in Wash-
ington, D.C. (Appendix C). The hearing, convened on May
3, 1993, was designed to solicit the views of colleagues in
the scientific and educational communities as part of the
process of developing recommendations for the future di-
rection of the NRSA program. At the hearing, we posed the
following four questions to our speakers:
· What is the most significant challenge we face today
in the United States in maintaining an adequate supply of
qualified scientists to sustain and advance health research?
· What improvements might be made in the NRSA pro-
gram to ensure a continuing supply of skilled investigators
in the biomedical and behavioral sciences in the coming
years?
· What steps might be taken to improve the effective-
ness of the NRSA program in recruiting women and mi-
norities into scientific careers?
· What features of the NRSA training grant might be
strengthened to ensure the maintenance of high-quality re-
search training environments?
14
The public hearing provided a forum for exploring the
need for biomedical and behavioral research personnel in
nontraditional settings, such as industry. It also provided a
forum for interested spokesmen from the scientific and edu-
cational research communities to suggest modifications in
the NRSA program. In preparation for the public hearing,
the committee consulted with NIH and developed a com-
prehensive list of about 2,000 individuals and professional
organizations to whom letters of invitation were sent. These
letters requested brief abstracts of proposed presentations.
Approximately 200 responses to the invitation were re-
ceived, and from these approximately 35 speakers were se-
lected. A summary of the public hearing will be available
separately. Names of respondents are listed in Appendix C.
Commissioned Papers
To augment the expertise of the committee in a variety
of areas, we commissioned a number of papers for use dur-
in~ four (Ieliherntinn.s In most cases, commissioned papers
by experts within each of those broad fields addressed in
this report augmented the quantitative analyses conducted
under the guidance of the Panel on Estimation Procedures.
Appendix D includes a list of the authors and other key
contributors.
Airlie House Retreat
To review the information gathered by the committee
through these various activities, the committee convened a
three-day retreat in Airlie, Virginia, in September 1993. The
purpose of the retreat was to review information gathered
by the Panel on Estimation Procedures and other sources, to
formulate our recommendations for refining the NRSA pro-
gram, and to begin the task of organizing this report. Rep-
resentatives from the Institute of Medicine, from the NRC
Commission on Life Sciences, from the NRC Commission
on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, and au-
thors of the commissioned papers were present to assist the
committee in their technical discussions.
ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
This report is organized into three parts. Chapter 2 sum-
marizes our approach to the assessment of national need in
this tenth report to the Secretary of Health and Human Ser-
vices and to the U.S. Congress. This summary is followed
by chapters addressing developments in the demand for re-
search specialists in
· the basic biomedical sciences (Chapter 3),
· the behavioral sciences (Chapter 4),
· the clinical sciences (Chapter 5),
OCR for page 15
INTRODUCTION
· oral heals research (Chapter 6),
· nursing research (Chapter 7),
· health services research (Chapter 84.
Recommendations regarding the future direction of the
NRSA program in meeting national needs are provided for
each broad field (see Appendix E for a summary of the
awards available through the NRSA program).
The report concludes with a consideration of overall
training issues, including specification of steps that might
be taken to make Be NRSA program more effective in the
coming years.
We are aware that Mere are certain limitations to this
report. For example, we have not had the opportunity to
address research Gaining needs in many deserving areas,
such as the clinical specialties of veterinary sciences or so-
cial work. We hope that subsequent analyses of personnel
and training needs by the NRC will consider these and other
topics not included in this volume. Furthermore, the com-
mittee was unable to collect new data about the biomedical
and behavioral sciences work force given time and resource
constraints. We believe, however, that this report serves
the national interest by emphasizing specialty areas for
which He demand for talent is great and for which informa-
tion is generally available. We hope that NIH will consider
collecting information in He near future needed to prepare
for the next report, such as that described in Chapter 9.
REFERENCES
Dey, E. L., A. Astin and W. S. Korn
1991 The American Freshman: Twenty-Five Year Trends: 1966
1990. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute,
UCLA.
Lenfant, C.
1989
Review of the National Institutes of Health Biomedical Re-
search Training Programs. Bethesda, Maryland: National
Institutes of Health.
National Institutes of Health
1992 Statement of work to the National Research Council. Mim-
eographed. March. Washington, DC.
15
OCR for page 16
Representative terms from entire chapter:
behavioral research
