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Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report (1978)

Chapter: 1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82

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Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
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Page 1
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 2
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 3
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 4
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 5
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 6
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 7
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 8
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 9
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 11
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 12
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 13
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 14
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 15
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 16
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 17
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 18
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 19
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 20
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 21
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 22
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 23
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 24
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 25
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 26
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 27
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 28
Suggested Citation:"1 Introduction and Summary of Numerical Recommendations, Fiscal Years 1980-82." Institute of Medicine. 1978. Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research: 1978 Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9913.
×
Page 29

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1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF NUMERICAL RECOMMENDATIONS, FISCAL YEARS 1980-82 OB ELECTIVES OF THE 1978 REPORT The Committee' s broad ob jectives for this year's report are to expand its analysis of the role of and need for federal training programs and, as a result, to reassess or modify and extend its recommendations of previous years. The continuing objectives of this report are to ~ ~ make numerical recommendations for predoc- toral and postdoctoral support for broad training areas and for the support mechani sms appropriate to these levels and areas of training and 2) identify, where possible, fields where training needs deserve special emphasi s . Beyond these continuing objectives, the Committee in this year ' s re por t at t empt s to e xt end i t s knowl edge of the tra i n i ng process in several new directions. First, the Committee examines the impact that red uct ion s i n tra in i ng grant support in the ear ly 1970's have hat on full-time enrollment levels and program activ- ities in the basic biomedical and behavioral sciences (Chapters 2 and 3 ) . Related to th i s d i scussion i s the i ssue rat sed in the National Research Service Award (NRSA) Act of the adequacy of alternat ive support me chant sms to prov ide suf f i c lent numbers and quality of personnel. Second, the Committee begins to address training needs as they pertain to nonacademic settings. In the past, the Committee has concentrated its analysis of demand almost exclusively on the market in academia for trained personnel. This year, in response to comments made at the public hearing the Committee discusses the employment opportunities available in the nonacademic sector Chapters 2, 3, and 5 ~ . Third, the Committee begins an in-depth investigation into the needs for training in the clinical sciences. Stud ies have been commissioned to clarify the composition of the clinical research pope ation and their special training needs. Limited attention i s given to fields of veterinary and dental research training ~ Chapter 4 ~ . In the area of the behavioral sciences, the special situation of the clinical invest igator in mental health research is explored ~ Chapter 3 ~ . Fourth, further progress i s made in <defining the training needs in the emerging area of nur sing research . The Commi ttee reports extensive information gathered on the state of the development of doctoral programs in schools of our sing ~ Chapter 6) . 1 r

Finally, the Committee again discusses the role of federal support in the provision of high-qua1 ity research training. Prior to treating these issues9 the Committee bed ieves the following section, bight ighting past Committee reports, will be helpful in providing a framework for this year's report. SYNOPS IS OF PREVIOUS REPORTS The first report of the Committee was issued in June 1975, onl y four months after the National Academy of Sciences had accepted) the task proposed for it by Congress under the NRSA Act of ~ 974. Because of time constraints, the Committee devoted its initial report to a description of the organization of the study, an out- line of the issues involved, and a presentation of the limited data avail able at that time. Each subsequent report has updated or enlarged the scope of previously addressed topi as and has in- cluded some that are di scussed for the f irst time . In organ) zing this study, the Committee ~ ivided the biomed- ical and behavioral f ields into four areas: 1 ) basic biomedical sciences, 2 ~ behavioral sciences, 3 ~ clinical sciences, and 4 ~ heal th serv ices research . A panel of experts was formed to as- sist the Committee in each area, and an additional panel was created to guide the data collection and analyses. It was rec- ognized very early in this study that the ~ egislative request to specify the nation's personnel needs in the fields of biomedical and behavioral research would be impeded by the di f f icult prob- lems of def inition and classif ication. An attempt was made in the f irst report to def ine each of the four broad areas in terms of the disciplinary fields included within- them. These initial definitions have been revised in subsequent reports, but the problems of taxonomy and determining need at the discipl inary level continue to be among the most intractable ones facing the Committee. The ma jor problem, as pointed out in the 1975 report, is that the boundaries between discipl ines are (lifficu~ t to craw. This problem is compounded by the aciaptabi~ ity of biomedical/ behavioral scientists and their capacity for Mobil ity within and across fields. This is especial ly true for transfers from more fundamental to more applied fiel ds, and for transfers that are facil itated by postdoctoral training . Lastly, there is the dif- ficulty of predicting ma jor scientific Revel opments and their potential impact on personnel requirements. In view of these considerations, the Committee's recommen- clations have been directed almost excl usiveJ y to broad areas rather than the disciplinary subgroups, although, as noted be' ow, some of the 1 atter were given special consideration in the 1977 report . - - The 1975 report provided def initions for the key concepts basic to this stucly--training grants, fellowships, insitutional suppc,~-t, predoctoral and postdoctoral training--and di soussed 2

their relationship with the quality of biomedical and behavioral research conducted in this country. A short history of the relevant federally supported programs was provided along with a summary of career outcomes of former trainees and fellows who participated in them. The Committee's second report (1976) assessed the current academic labor market and near-term outlook for biomedical and behavioral scientists. In most of these fields, the Committee found that an ample supply of Ph.D.'s was available. In fact, because the rate of growth in biomedical and behavioral research and development (R and D) expenditures had slowed perceptibly since 196B, and because college enrollments were expected to stabilize by 1980 while Ph.D. production continued at a high level, the Committee concluded that a slower rate of growth in the labor force in these fields was advisable. Accordingly, the Committee recommended a modest reduction in the number of fed- erally supported predoctoral students in the basic biomedical and behavioral areas. Postdoctoral support, the Committee believed, should be held constant in the basic biomedical sciences and increased in other areas. In the behavioral sciences, the recommended shift to pre- dominantly postdoctoral training represented a significant reori- entation of federal support and graduate training patterns in this area. This recommendation was developed partly in response to the growing need for more specialized investigators capable of dealing with the increasingly complex research questions in the area of behavior and health. On the other hand, the clinical sciences area was seen as needing increased support to help stimulate the flow of M.D.'s into clinical research careers. These initial recommendations were intended to remain in effect until the Committee's impressions about the market could-be confirmed or modified by further analyses and additional data. In 1977, the Committee found evidence that newly trained biomedical and behavioral Ph.D.'s were encountering increasing difficulty in obtaining permanent faculty positions. The number of these Ph.D.'s on postdoctoral appointments (which the Commit- tee considers to be temporary positions) had been rising at a rate of over 13 percent per year between 1972 and 1975 in the biomedical sciences. Furthermore, the Committee's 1977 Survey of Recent Doctorate Recipients showed that more than 40 percent of these postdoctoral appointees in biomedical fields had prolonged their appointments because they could not find suitable employ- ment. These indications of a tight job market facing new Ph.D.'s in these fields prompted the Committee to recommend an additional 10 percent reduction from the number of predoctoral trainees in the biomedical sciences supported by the federal government in 1976. The postdoctoral recommendation was unchanged. Certain fields within the basic biomedical sciences exhibited evidence of better-than-average employment prospects and were 3

cited as exceptions to the recommendation for reduced predoctoral - support. The f ields of biostatistics/biomathematics and epicle- miology showed no postdoctoral holding pattern and appeared to be attracting peopl e from close] y related fiel cis, such as statis- tics, that are outside the biomedical sciences. For these f ields, the Committee recommended no reduction in predoctoral support 1 evels. In its 1977 report, the Committee presented for the f irst time a systematic treatment of heal th services research training needs, providing a definition for this emerging research area and a preliminary ~ ist of training difficulties that face it. In ad<3itior~ to calling for a continued expansion of mental heal th services research training, primarily at the predoctoral 1 evel through the programs of Alcohol ~ Drug Abuse,, and Mental Heal th Administration (ADAMHA), the Committee called for an extension of the NRSA authority to permit training in the- general area of health services research especially through the programs once provided by the National Center for Health Services Research (NCHSR) . Nursing research training was officially brought under the purview of the study by amendments made to the NRSA Act in 1976. In its ~ 977 report, the Committee provided the results of its survey of nurses who had compl eted their doctoral training be- tween 1971 and 19750 The findings suggested that opportunities for employment for doctorally trained nurses was favorabl e, and led the Committee to suggest an expansion of research training support, predominantly at- the predoctoral lever. The Committee's 1977 report al so discussed the issues of mid- ¢:areer training and the participation of minorities and women in biome<3 ical and behavioral research ' the admini strat ive problems of the 3-year limit on awards, the payback provisions announce- ment fields, and multidisciplinary awards; the education and training process by which most biomedical and behavioral scien- tists are procluced; and the importance of federal support in sustaining the research training system. Earlier reports of tile Committee have been distributed to university ~ ibrar-ies and graduate school deans. Limited copies are al so available upon request to the Committee . Within the context of these previous efforts, the Committee will now proceed to discuss the issues pertinent to this year's report . TRAINING GRANTS AND THE QUALITY OF TRAINING Most training grant programs were or iginally focused on the ap- parent need for increasing the number of well-trained research Personnel. Ilc)wever, in developing a stable continuing policy for ov~?rslment support of tra i n i nq prog rams i n the b iomec] i Cal sc i- 4

ences, it is essential to consider other effects that may be less obvious than the contribution of mere numbers. Many experienced observers believe, for example, that training grants have been just as important in improving the quality of training as in providing for increased numbers. It must be admitted at once that it is not easy to provide absolutely convincing proof that a given sum of money has resulted in a specific increment of qual- ity in research training. This difficulty of evaluation pervades the entire education process. Repeated attempts to identify the various factors which contribute to effective education at any level from first grade through graduate school have provided embarrassingly little evidence that any of the well-known factors that educators, parents, students, and taxpayers argue about so vehemently make much difference. Perhaps the major difficulty facing the evaluator is the very strong correlation between the ability of the students at entry and their ability at graduation. Thus, it has been shown that children with a good command of spoken language and who score high on "reading readiness tests" before entering first grade are found to be reading increasingly above grade level as they proceed through primary and secondary school. This effect is so large as to overwhelm the effects of such variables as teacher training, teacher/student ratio, the number of books in the library, and so on. Similarly, graduate schools that have a reputation for turn- ing out the best graduate students tend to attract the best en- tering students. They are also, generally speaking, the same schools to be judged most worthy of training grants by peer review bodies. One cannot therefore demonstrate the effect of training grants in improving graduate education simply by point- ing to the quality of the emerging student or the high rating giver to the training programs by surveys of qualified judges. This problem will be discussed later in an attempt to outline how certain rather special aspects of graduate education may be ex- ploited by programs of evaluation designed to aid future policy making in the wise and efficient use of training funds. In the meantime, and in the absence of precise facts or val- idated educational theory, serious attention must be paid to the overwhelming opinion of informed observers that the training grant programs have very importantly improved the quality of re- search training. In support of such opinion one may also cite certain specific uses of these grants, the significance of which appeals immediately to common sense. First, one of the most important uses of training grant funds is to provide research equipment and supplies for use by the trainees. Research training is unlike many other forms of educa- tion in that it cannot be learned solely from books. Indeed it may be the example par excellence of "learning by doing," espe- cially in the biological sciences' where almost all advances depend upon new observations in the laboratory rather than theo- retical reasoning. It is simply a matter of fact that, when 5

training grants were started, very few institutions in the country could af ford to provide their graduate students or even their postdoctoral fellows with suitable scientific apparatus and supplies. Research supp] ies include such items as expensive experimen- tal animal s and unusual chemicals, which put a heavy stress on any departmental budget. Much biomedical research depends al so upon the availability of special) zed apparatus, costing in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately from the financial standpoint, but not from the point of view of the prog- ress of science, such apparatus tends to become obsolete rather rapidly and must be frequently re placed i f st udents are to re- ceive training in the technologies of the future. Many of these instruments require special training for their use, and it is the custom in good training laboratories to assign a high ~ eve, tech- nician to protect the apparatus from misuse and train the grad- uate students and vi siting investigators in its proper handling . Such personnel are often at least partially paid from training grants and certainly play an essential role in the training process . Second, training grants have almost certain! y improved the qual ity of training by providing a portion of the salaries for addi t tonal facul ty members. One of the maj or purposes of train- ing grants has been to encourage interdepartmental training programs. The field of genetics provides an excellent example. In many institutions the geneticists may be- found in several di fferent departments--plant geneticists in the botany depart- ment, animal geneticists in the zoology department, insect genet- icists in the department of entymology, bacterial geneticists in the department of microbiology, and medical geneticists in the medical school--and in universities with an agricu~ tural collate, they may be found additionally in the departments of agronomy and plant breeding. In many institutions, training grants have served to br i ng such scattered teachers together to provide broad training to graduate students and postdoctoral fel lows in impor- tant f ields that transcend departmental boundaries. More often than not, however, some important ~ i sc ipl ines may be mi ssing, and training grant funds may be used to f ill the gap on either a permanent or vi siting basi s. The need for such additions to faculty is particularly important in rapidly advancing fiel ds. In several areas of biology, for example, the older facul ty may not have rece Ives much training in mathemati as, but current developments in popul at ion biology, for exampl e, demand a good working knowledge of statistics. Simile arly, the important area of ecology rel ies increasingly on mathematical modeling and on advanced methods of analyzing small amounts of air and water pollutants. Training grants play an essential role in rounding out the faculty to provide instruction in such rapidly developing areas. Third, training grants contribute to excellence simply by provic] ing an increased number of graduate students to a hinh- 6

quality department. Many newer departments, staffed with ex- cellent young teachers in some of the rapidly developing parts of the country, have not yet developed a reputation sufficient to attract a critical mass of graduate students. Training grants, by providing a reasonable number of traineeships, help these departments to overcome this deficiency in a much shorter time than would otherwise be the case. By careful adjustments of such support, a more equitable distribution of students may be effect- ed without any net overall increase in numbers. Fourth, there has been so much discussion, both among the public and in the Congress itself, about the importance of im- proving scientific communication, that perhaps one need only mention the importance of training grants in providing for the purchase of essential printed materials and forwarding the in- fonmal communication which is such an important part of the scientific process. Training grants have been widely used for paying the traveling expenses of visiting investigators, who may come for 3 or 4 days to present seminars on subjects of particu- lar interest or to participate in laboratory work designed per- haps to resolve difficulties or contradictions that have arisen in the work of two different research groups. Modest use has also been made of training grant funds to help send graduate students to scientific meetings where they have a chance to pre- sent their own work and to meet the distinguished leaders in their field. As a point of caution, however, it should be noted that the role of program support has been altered with the phasing out of the "old" training grant awards and the phasing in of the new NRSA awards beginning in 1975. The significance lies in the fact that the amount of training grant support devoted to improving the training environment is falling from the 50 percent level present in the late 1960's and early 1970's to an administrative- ly mandated upper limit of 25 percent. While all areas of pro- qram support have been affected by this cutback, faculty support in particular has practically been eliminated. In summary, although this Committee is well aware of the difficulties of proving the-effects of any specific parts of the training process, it believes that training programs, especially at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and ADAMHA, are impor- tant in upgrading the quality of departmental and especially interdepartmental training programs. Indeed, it regards the main- tenance of such quality as a major reason for the maintenance of the training grants program, although the primary need is no longer for increased numbers (except for a few fields highlighted elsewhere in the report). If numbers of trainees are to be re- duced, it would seem wise to retain quality by increasing the percentage of grant funds allowed to be used for upgrading and maintaining the quality of training, since otherwise the absolute amount of such funds is quite likely to fall dangerously short of the national need as numbers of students decline. 7

Future Research As suggested above, however, we remain dissatisfied with the lack of quantitative evidence for the effectiveness of del iberate mod- ifications of the educational process and recognize that more carefully designed research must be undertaken in this area. Several unusual features of education at the graduate level sug- gest that it may be more amenable to the evaluation of specific factors than one might at first suppose. For example, the qual- ity of the entering students, though variable, is much ~ ess so than at earlier levels of the educational process. For example, the range in I.Q. of students in graduate school i s probate' y only about hal f that of students at lower levels. Thus the effects of native ability or of previous environment are less overwhelming, and correlations between input and output may be expected to be less. On the other hand, the schools themselves differ widely in the number of degrees conferred, students enrolled, student/ teacher ratios, the availability of advanced instrumentation, - experimental animals, library fact' ities, and so on. It is also known that the research output of trained inves- tigators varies equal ly widely. Some publish many papers . Others may pubs ish relatives y few papers, but of such a quality as to be everywhere recognized as of great importance. The most difficult problem is to determine the qual ity of output of the large number of biological scientists who publish at a more or less normal rate of one or two to f ive or s ix papers a year . Substantial efforts have been made to eval uate such outputs by finding out how often each paper is cited by other authors and to what purpose . These ad j usted citation indices are being constantly refined and are beginning to be used, at least tentative! y, as suggested measures of the significance or qua' ity of scientific output of part icular research units or ind ividual invest igators . There are other ways in wh Itch excel fence is recognized by the scientific community. In this category are Nobel prizes, other awards, and inv itations to give di stinguishe<3 ~ ectures or to serve on boards of h igh qual i t y , 0 urna 1 s or peer r ev i ew groups . All these contribute to an assessment of the standing of partic- ular scientists . In the more applied areas, some inferences can perhaps be drawn by the number of patents granted. In summary the Committee believes that there may be ways of identifying and measuring several of the most important <3iffer- ences in graduate education at various institutions and there are nascent methods for measur ing resul ts in terms of the research output of the persons trained in such institutions. In the not too distant future, therefore, i t may be possible to correlate training proced ures with results and, by means of such analyses , aid the po ~ icymakers in the ~ i f f icul t task o f dec id ing how much 8

of the federal budget to invest in research training and where it is best to invest it. The Committee will continue to search for methodologies ap- propriate to evaluating training program quality. It also notes that support of research to develop such methodologies would ap- pear to be a proper function of government agencies such as NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF) with their very large stakes in the effectiveness of research training. TRAINING FOR WOMEN During the Committee's deliberations, including the public hear- ing, the issue has been raised of increasing the participation of women in biomedical and behavioral research. In its 1977 report the Committee presented the results of a study it conducted, us- ing available data sources, on the career and training patterns of women. While it was noted that much progress has been made in the past decade in increasing the representation of women in bio- medical and behavioral research, it was also pointed out that many continuing hindrances remain to their full participation. The special problem of family responsibility resulting in inter- ruption of or late entry into training and careers (see section below on midcareer training), financial burdens, and greater re- liance than men on part-time study, point to the particular dif- ficulties of increasing the number of women researchers. In December 1974, the National Research Council (NRC) ap- pointed a Committee on the Education and Employment of Women in Science and Engineering to examine the social, structural, and institutional constraints which limit the participation of women in science and engineering, giving special attention to problems of sex discrimination in education and employment. Its goal is to increase official and public understanding of these issues and serve as a focus for efforts to improve opportunities for women in science and engineering, thereby increasing utilization of a largely untapped reservoir of talent. Initially the Committee is examining the utilization of women doctoral scientists in three areas: 1) postdoctoral positions; 2) academic employment; and 3) federal advisory boards and ad hoc committees. Because of the relevance of these studies to assessments of supply and demand for research personnel in the biomedical and behavioral sci- ences, the findings of that Committee will be studied with much interest. 9

MI DC AREER TRAI NING Although in last year' s report the Committee made a specific recommendat ion to provide up to 50 percent of health services research fellowships for mid career training for quad if fed persons interested in entering this new research area, the issue of mid- career training has arisen across a broad spectrum of the Commit- tee's deliberations. Each of the training areas for which the Committee is responsible has experienced probe ems associated with late entry, reentry, or retraining after the traditional period of graduate and postdoctoral training. Retraining often is re- quired because of the rapid pace of developments in science and the early obsol escence of techniques and instruments in almost eve ry f i e ld . In the clinical sc fences, this problem is acute because of the lengthy schooling and residency requirements invoke ved prior to entering full-time research training and particul arty because of the many demands placed upon the t ime of M. D. -invest igators, particu~ arty those in academic medical centers and major hospi- tals/clinics, to provide health care services. Such persons general ly are unable to devote the majority of their time to re- search and, by virtue of the conditions and responsibi~ ities of their empl oyment, either are ineligible for support for, or otherwise unable to take, a sabbatical leave of absence to ac- quire new research skit 1 s and knowledge. Midcareer training needs are particulars y relevant to the probe em of attracting and retaining minorities and women in research. Providing opportunities for minorities and women in fields in which their participation has heretofore been minimal will require midcareer opportunities for training in these fields. For minorities, the attractiveness of immediate emit oy- ment opportunities following receipt of the doctorate may divert some from needed postdoctoral training and, once they are em- ployed, abnormally high administrative and student counseling demands become obstacles to achieving high research productivity. For women, family responsibilities often create training problems because of 1 ate entry into training and careers, limits to full- time study, and obsolescence of research skid Is due to a mid- career hiatus. For example, i n the area of nur sing research these problems frequently exi st for ind ivicluals already engaged in professional careers who desire to enter research in thi s e xpand i ng are a . It is not yet possible to describe a sing le program that would be s imple, yet comprehend ive enough to encompass the variety of training needs demonstrated by such a varied group of individuals. Adequate stipend level s may be critical to permit- ting those in midcareer to undertake additional training. Part- time study may be essential to those with continuing famine y responsibilities. In addition, predoctoral training will be required for those f irst entering research training, whit e post- doctoral training may be suf f icient for those retool ing for a resumption of research or an upgrading of research skil Is. 10

The Committee bel ieves that these problems associated wi th the need for midcareer training need to be explored in greater depth. It therefore will seek to address these issues in future studies in order to def ine them more preci sely and to determine the nature and extent of the efforts needed for amel iorat ion. The Committee also urges the federal agencies to devote add i- tiona' attention to these problems for the purpose of better defining aspects of agency responsibil ity for meeting these needs . OVE RALL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FEDERAL SUPPORT In the following sections, the Committee wil 1 summari ze its recommendations wi th regard to the mechanisms of support and the numbers of ind ividuals to be supported . Me chan i sms o f Support The Committee wishes to reaffirm its recommendation of last year that both teas i c me chant sms of suppo rt--fel ~ owsh i ps and tra i ning grants--be maintained. The Committee believes that these two mechanisms are complementary in their support of high qual ity training--the individual support of high quality students through fellowships and the bolstering of superior training programs through tra in i ng grant s . Because the needs and probI ems of re- search training differ among the various scientific areas with which the Committee is concerned, the type and magnitude of sup- port provided mc~st be made appropr iate to the area and level of training involved. Recommenclation. As in last year's report the Committee recommends that t~he federal government continue to support and maintain both training grant and fel~ owship programs in the bio- rnedical and behavioral sciences. Specific recommendations for each of the broad areas are reported in the fo~ lowing chaoters. Numer i cal Recommendat ions The Committee has adopted the pract ice of making its recom~nenda- tions for 3 fiscal years (FY) in acivance of the year of publi- cation of its reports. This practice is intend~d to provide Congress and the agencies with sufficient time for consideration and implementation of the recommendations which in this year's 11 \

report corer FY 1980, 1981, and 1982. The recommendations for FY 1980 are considered f i rm, while those for FY 1981 and 1982 are tentative and sub ject to revision in next year' s report. This year the Committee presents its numerical recommenda- tions and the agencies' training data in a different and somewhat more detailed format. Three specific subareas of training, which are described in the sections bel ow and which heretofore have been subsumed under one of the f ive ma jor training areas ~ biomed- i Cal sc fences, behav ioral sc fences, c] inical sc fences, heal th services research , and nursing research ), are now separately identified and, in some cases, reclassified. The f irst of these i s the Medical Scienti st Training Program (MSTP). In previous Committee reports this program has been ciassifiec] under the clinical sciences, but since the training provided under this program is heavily oriented toward the basic biomedical sciences, and since NIH routinely reports MSTP data in th i s categ ory, t he Commi t tee be] i eve s i t to be more appr opr i ate to classify the MSTP under that general heading. Thus it is identified separately under the biomedical sciences in the tables that fol low . A second subarea training category for wh inch the agencies ~ award data are separately identified is Community and Environ- mental Health. Support for this subarea reflects NIH interest in public health and sanitation and includes such fields as radio- logical health, water pollution control, air pollution, environ- mental science s, food protect ion, mental health, ~ maternal and chil ~ health, and accident prevention. In past reports, trainees in this category of community and environmental health research training generally have been al located to either the biomedical or c' inical sciences. However, in its continuing review of training areas, the Commi ttee has concluded that since many of the i nd i v id ua Is worki ng i n the se f i e ~ ds h eve been dr awn f rom t he biomedical sciences, agency data on training awards for the Community and Environmental Health category henceforth will be shown separately wi thin the biomedical sciences area. F inal ly, the impor tent f ie Ids of bi ostat i st i as and ep ide- miology constitute a third training category separate! y identi- f fed in thi s report . Agency training data for these f ields also have been previously reported partially wi thin the basic biomed- ical sciences and partial y within the clinical sciences. In ke epi ng wi th the Commi ttee ' s recommend at ions th i s ye ar concern- ing the preferred locus for predoctoral training in these fields, data on awards are now consolidated and shown under the category of biomedical sciences. ~ il e these modi f ications do not change any of the overal l levels of training previously recommended by the Committee, they do resul ~ in some rearrangement of the recommendat ions in the cl i n i cal sc i ence and b i omed i Cal so i ence are a s . 12

The tables that follow present agency training data for FY 19 7 7; the Commi tt e e ' s re commendat i on s and e st imated cost s for FY 1980-82; and an o~reral l summary from FY 1975-82 of authorization , appropriation, and Committee recommended levels. Figure 1.1 re- states the Committee' s recommendations from FY 1975 in terms of the changes discussed above ~ see also Appendixes D1-D2 for tables: showing the Committee' s recommendations for 1976 and 1977 in the new format ~ . Table 1.1 shows the training awards provided by the agencies in FY 1977 in terms of the Committee' s f ive ma jor research train- ing areas and the three new training categories d i scussed :above . Table I. 2 and Figure 1.1 show the numerical recommendations of the Commi ttee for FY 1980-82, by training area, program type ~ traineeship or fellowship), and academic level ~ predoctora~ or postdoctoral ), without attempting to a' locate the training posi- tions among NIH, ADAMHA, Heal th Resources Administration (HRA), and NCHSR. Tab, e 1. 3 presents the Committee' s recommendations in per- centages. If the funds appropr fated by Congress for research training differ from the recommended levels, the percentage format may be helpful in assisting agencies to imps ement the recommendat ions . Table ~ . 4 transI ate s the numer ical recommendat ions into estimated costs. The reader is cautioned that, as noted in the footnote, other than al lowi ng for an annual 5 percent increase in stipends r estimated costs do not provide for possible increases in tuitions' indirect costs, etc. Finally, for comparative purposes, Table ~ .5 provides a sum- mary of the authorization levels, amounts appropriated, and the Committee's recommended 1 evels of support for the NKSA program from FY 19 75 through FY 19 82 . 13

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14 12 O 10 ~c - tn CE: O m z 8 21 ~ Predoctoral O ~ 1 I, ~ 1 ~ 1 1975 1977 1979 1981 FISCAL YEAR {a} Total Recommended Predoctoral and Postdoctoral NRSA Awards —Total ~n c, tr 40( 3 ~ 20( o cr z' 1975 1977 1979 1981 Z FISCAL YEAR (aJ Heald~ Serv~ces Rcsearch. ~ _ tr-~ 200 _ mm _ ~ ~ O ~ Z ~ 1975 1977 1979 lg81 FISCAL YEAR (f} Nuning Remarch 10 - o - cn ~ 6 3 ~: o cr UJ m ~ 2 z _ \ ~ Total Biomedical Sciences Basic Biomedical ~ ,~ Sciences (Predoc.) 4 ~aSIC tIlom~UlcEll Sciences (Postdoc.) Medical Scientist _ ~ Program IPredoc.) __ ~ .__ ._____————-——___ O , 1 1 1 1 1 1, 1 1975 1977 1979 1981 FISCAL YEAR lb) Biomedical Sciences cn ~ 4 3 2 _ O ,,, ~ o O 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 z =- 1975 1977 1979 1981 FISCAL YEAR (c) Clinical Sciences ~ Postdoctorals and Total _ ~ ____ cD ~ - ~ 2 '' Total Predoctoral O~ ~ ~——C~~~~~ "o __;~`Postdoctoral I ~ I ~ 0 ]975 1977 16379 t98t z ~ FISCALYEAR {d} Elehavioral Sciences FIGURE 1.] Summary of Committee recomniendations for NIH, ADAMHA, and HRA research training awards. Trai~iing - grant awards are made at the er~d of a fiscal year and support trainees on duty in the subsequent fiscal year. Fellowship awards are made throughout the fiscal year in wh~eh the training occurs and in this report it is assumed that the fellow~ip awardee starts his training in the fiscal year of the award. See Table 1.2. 16

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TABI~E 1.4 Estimated Cost of Recommended N=,/ADAM~A Program for EM 1980-82, Based on EY 1976 Costs, (millions of dollars Health Biomedical Sciences Behaviora1 Clinical Services Nursing - Sciences Sciences Research Research M"iC81 Scientist Program Basic _ _ ~ 1980 Total Total 167.00 82.42 6.62 20,10 51.64 3.70 2.S3 Pre 51.16 35.38 6.62 5.(4 0 1.53 1.99 Post 115.84 47.04 0 14.46 51.64 2.17 0.54 Trainees Total 107.72 35 3a 6 62 16 90 45.36 1 12 0.63 Post 59 58 o b o 12.33 45.36 1.73 0 17 Fellows Total 59.28 47. 04 0 3.20 6.28 0.85 1.90 Pre 3 02 0 0 1. 07 0 0.41 1.53 Post 56 26 47.04 0 2.13 6.28 0.44 0.37 1981 Total Total 174 06 85.78 6.79 20.72 53.70 4.17 2.90 Pre 51'06 36.38 6.79 3.92 0 1.71 2.25 Post 123 01 49.40 '' 16.80 53,70 2.46 0.65 Trainees Total 111.93 36.38 6.79 17 .45 47 .12 3 , 24 0. 95 Pre 48 29 36.38 6,79 3.19 0 1.24 0.68 Post 63 64 ob 0 14.26 47.12 2.00 0.27 Fellows Total 62.13 49~39 0 3.28 6.57 0 .93 1.96 Pre 2 77 0 0 0.73 0 0.47 ~ .57 Post 59 36 49 39 0 2.55 6.57 0.46 0.39 1982 Total Total 181.75 89.30 6.97 21.52 55.86 4.80 3.31 Pre 52 86 37.44 6.97 4.02 0 1.91 2.53 Post 128 89 51.86 0 17.50 55.86 2.89 0.78 Trainees Total 116.55 3t. 44 6. 97 18.10 48,98 3.77 1.29 Pre 49 97 37 44 6.97 3.27 0 1.37 0.92 Post 66 58 o b <, 14.83 48.98 2.40 0.37 Fellow. Total 6S.20 51.86 0 3.42 6.88 1.03 2 02 Pre 2 89 0 0 O. 75 0 0,54 1.61 Post 62 31 51.86 0 2.67 6.88 0.49 0.41 Calculations were "sea on 1976 average cost figure'; (see below) derived from NJ}! data. No allowance has been made for increases in tuition charges or other training costs Accept for the S percent per year increase in stipends as noted below. Substantial increases in tuition charges have been noted :in recent years. If, as expected, tuition should con- tinue to increase fras 1976 lovele, the above esthetes should be adjusted accordingly. bAlthough no specific awards are remended here, the Committee recognizes the need for special exceptions to be made. Est~tod Total Training Coats Per Award in P-f 1976 (dollars) Predoctoral Postdoctoral FY 1976 Biomod Behavioral Clinical Health Sen,. Nursing Bianed Behavioral Clinical Health Sear. Nursing , . Trainees 8,100 9,500 8,900 9,100 8,100 16,300 17,700 18,200 19,600 16,300 Fellows 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000 14,000 14,000 15,000 14 r 000 14 ~ 00 0 1` 5 percent increase per year on Stipends was assumed in accordance with Co~r~mitt`,e's recommendation. The average stipend for predoct~oral eras est~ated to be S4,500; the average stipend for postdocto~ais was estimated at SI4,000 in 1976. 18

TABLE 1.S Authorization, Appropriation, and Column ttee Recommendations for Training l:~penditures, 1975-82 (millions of dollars) Fiscal Year 1975 1976a 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Authorized NRSA Act 208 165 185 185 House 220 240 260 Senate 175 180 185 Appropriated 171.5 152.0 146.5 168.8 NIH 154.9 132.3 127.4 149.9 ADAMHA 16.6 19.7 19.1 18.9 Committee Recommendations 168 167 167 164 167 174 182 Includes the transition quarter. See NRSA Act in Appendix A. CFrom budget off of NIH and ADAMHA. See Committee reports for 1976 and 1977 19 1

ADDENDA

REVI EW OF CURRENT ACTIVITIES Sol i c i tat ion of Vi ews from the Publ ic For the second consecut ive year, the Committee conducted a pubI ic hearing to solicit comments from individuals and organizations about the Committee's work ~ see Appendix C3 for the program) . The purpose was to continue the dial ague established at the first public hearing between the Committee and the public. Once again, the hearing was schedu~ ed several months after the widespread distribution of the Committee's annual report. The hearing proved educational for both Committee and public. The Committee rece ived comments, critic) sms, and suggestions direct, y from interested parties and sought clarification of stated positions through direct questioning. Speakers and other attendees ~ earned through the Committee' s questions some of the larger issues that continue to emerge from the congressional charge to the Commi ttee. A f ul ~ schedule of 35 speakers covered a broad range of topi cs including the need for minority fellow- ships, midcareer training for women, nonacademic demand for researchers, the need for problem-oriented interdiscip~ inary training, predoctoral versus postdoctoral field specialization, and field-switching at the postdoctoral level. Attention was also directed to predoctora, priority training areas and to training needs in such areas as epidemiology, toxicology, and the eva~uat ion of heal th serv ices. Particul ar considerat ion was g iven to the special needs of research in the clinical sciences carried on by investigators wi th professional degrees in med- icine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, clinical psychos ogy, anti nur sing . The Committee was particularly pleased that some groups heeded the Committee's request of the previous year to provide concrete evidence of future demand for researchers. In par- ticular, data were provided concerning the empl oyment and utili- zation of Ph.D. 's in psychology and microbiology. In addition, attempts were made to demonstrate the increasing demand for tox i colog i st s . Wh i 1 e the Commi thee ' s interpretat ion of the s ig n i f i cance of these data may vary somewhat from that of the presenters, these sources do further the Committee's goal of providing a sounder basis on which to make judgments about tra in i ng needs . The transcript of the hearing together with written- state- ments submitted prior and subsequent to the hearing were con- s id ere<3 by tile Commi ttee and its advi very panels . Wh i] e no attempt has been made to address speci f ically every statement Maintained in this extensive documentation, the Committee and panels leave g iven these vi ewpoints serious attention in making the i r own f i nd i ng s and recommendat ions. 22 N

Dissemination of Market Information In its 1977 report the Committee recommended that students contemplating research careers in the biomedical sciences "be provided access to-the most current and valid data about the state of the labor market and career opportunities." An article (Coggeshall, et al., in press) has been been prepared on the changing employment situation for recent Ph.D recipients in the biomedical sciences, based largely on data collected in the Com- mittee's 1976 survey of recent graduates. The article focuses on the postdoctoral buildup in these fields and its implications for graduate students planning careers in biomedical research. The following two questions are specifically addressed: 1) To what extent does the continuing increase in postdoctorate reflect a diminution in permanent positions available for young scientists to enter academic and other careers? 2) How many of those now on postdoctoral appointments will be able to find suitable employment when they complete their training? In an effort to disseminate data describing the current market for behavioral science personnel, gapers have been deliv- ered at the annual meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Psychological Association (APA) ( Ebert-Flattaul 1978a and b). Survey of Biomedical and Behavioral Science Departments This survey, hereafter referred to as the Department Survey, was designed to serve a variety of purposes relating to training and labor market issues in the basic biomedical and behavioral sci- ence areas. The entire population of doctoral granting depart- ments in these areas was surveyed--l,324 biomedical and 474 behavioral sciences departments. A response rate of 77 percent was achieved. The department was selected as the survey unit because of its unique locus as training center, research center, ~~c=~ ,`~m and ^~'~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ _ _ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1 ~ ~ 1 ~ 1~ ~ ~ ''— and by various department characteristics: -quality ratings pub- lic or private institution, graduate or medical school, and age of the department. The Committee was particularly interested in three major issues. The first is how departmental policy affects admissions y~r . Responses were ant veto h`, A i ff=~ ; ~ ¢; ~~ ~ ~ i-- 23

( and full-time enroilmentsO Are some types of departments more 1 ikely than others to restrict enrol Iments based on available stipend support or perceptions of the labor market? A second issue was the current perceptions of the 1 abor market. Is the market seen as being in bad ance or as having shortages or sur- pluses? What are anticipated trends in ful 1-time enrollments and demand for faculty through 1981 ? Is there any evidence of a postdoctoral holding pattern due to a worsening job market? The third issue is the impact of lost training grant support on full-time enrol Iments and programs. To what extent can alterna- tive sources and mechanisms of support substitute for the Joss of tra i n i ng supper t? Are there un ique progr am bene f i t s a s soc i ated with the training grant that would be lost with the demise of this program? Resuits from the Department Survey pertaining to these issues are discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 as appropriate to the basic biomed i Cal and behav ioral sc fences . Data from the survey are provided in Appendix E. Several departmental site vi sits were conducted by the Panel on Basic Biomedical Sciences to supplement resul ts from the De- partment Survey. These site vi sits were designed to help assess the rol e of training grants in university programs; special em- phasi s wa s pi aced on the impact of the loss of such support on the quality of departmental programs. While these site visits were prel iminary in nature and therefore not conclusive, they ~ id add valuable insights to the f indings of the Department Survey. Surveys of Doctoral and Pending Doctoral Programs for Nurses In response to a continued need for data describing the current c] imate for doctoral training in nursing research ~ the Committee and its Ad Hoc Advi very Group on Nursing Research Personnel con- ducted surveys of selected! doctoral and pending doctoral programs in school s of nursing throughout the United States. In conj unction with a survey form used to col1 eat basic in- formation describing enrollment trends, faculty activities, and research devel opment, deans at ~ 5 school s of nursing were inter- viewed by Commi ttee staff ~ Findings from these surveys ~ Appendix I ~ suggest that doc- toral programs have been proli ferating at a rate faster than that at which research and the number of research faculty have been growing at these institutions. These findings, together with Committee recommendations, are presented in Chapter 6. 24

Survey of Health Services Research Per sonnet The Committee, together with its Panel on Hearth Services Re- search, initiated a survey in June 1978 of approximately 2, 000 ind ividuals who were identi f fed as health services research personnel on the basi s of hav ing received federal research grant, contract, or training support in related areas. Findings from this survey were not available in time for inch usion in this year's report. At a time when a concerted effort is under way by the federal government to review and assess its involvement in health serv- ices research and its support of research training ~ see Chapter 5), the Committee believes that the findings from this survey wil ~ provide important information regarding the past research training experiences and current employment opportunities for these investigators. Conference on Heal th Services Research Personnel On May 1 7, 197S, the Committee and its Pane] on Health Services Research convened a I-day invitational conference in Washington, D. C ., to di scuss with representat Ives from a variety of employ- ment settings current and anticipated empl oyment opportunities for thi s type of invest igator. Evidence provided by conference participants led the Committee to conclude that there is an ur- gent need to provide skill ed investigators to conduct research relevant to the implementation of such federal ly mandated oro- grams as Health Systems Agencies (HSA) and Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC). ~ full discussion of the conference is found in Chapter 5 ~ see Appendix C4 for program and conferees) . fleet i ng on Veter i nary Re search On April 20, ~ 97S, an ad hoc Working Group on Veterinary Research Personnel, under tile aegis of the Panel on Clinical Sciences, met to discuss training and employment problems in this area. Pro- fessional society representatives presented information on the employment of individuals in the veterinary sciences. In addi- tion, the work group ~ iscussed financial and institutional con- straints to entrance into research careers by D.V.M. students. P1 ens were formulated for future studies to clarify training and personnel needs for veterinary scientists. (See Appendix Cl for program and part ic ipants. ~ 25

Meeting on Dental Research A work g roup on dental research personnel, under the Panel on : Clinical Sciences, met on May it, 1978, to discuss problems in defining the dental research popul ation and estimating personnel needs in dental research. In particu~ ar, the work group dis- cussed the un ique dental research training problems created by the ~ ink between research and clinical specialties and partic- u~ arly the important issues of the inadequate amount and duration of stipend support. The meeting resulted in an agreement to cooperate with the American Association for Dental Research in undertaking a study of the dental) research population . ( Append ix C2 contains the program and list of participants. ~ Meeting on Psychiatry Research Personnel On January 2 1, ~ 9 7 ~ a the Commi ttee and i ts Panel on Behav ioral Sciences convened a ~ -day meeting in Washington , D. C., to iden- tify the most pressing challenges confronting the recruitment of psychiatrists into mental health research. In addition to the need to strengthen research training sites and to recruit person- ne1 at critical career choice points, the ad hoc steering commit- tee pointed to the need to foster more interdiscip~ inary research through research training. The conclusions drawn by the steering committee served as guided ines for the discussion found in Chapter 3. (See Appendix C5 for program and participants. ~ RELATED STUDIE S Study of Postdoctorals The Committee is al so for lowing the work of the MRC Committee on Postdoctorals and Doctoral Research Staf f in Science and Eng i- neering, which is studying the changing rol es of these personnel in science and engineering fields and the imp1 ications for fed- eral and institutional pot icy decisions. This study wit ~ address a number of issues pertinent to the need for biomedical and be- havioral research personnel incl uding ~ ~ the character of the contribution of postdoctoral appointees to the research ef fort of their host departments and laboratories; 2) the desirabil ity, from the student ~ s perspective, of taking a postdoctoral appoint- ment; 3) the appropriate mix of postdoctoral funding mechanisms; 26

4) the contributions and costs of foreign nationals on post- doctoral appointments at United States institutions; 5 ~ the advantages and <disadvantages of postdoctoral training from the perspective of women and minorities; and 6 ~ the advantages and disadvantages of postdoctoral training for students planning careers outside the academic sector. For purposes of addressing these issues, several <3a/a-gathering activities have been pi anned for the next 2 years. Ef forts are being made to coordinate these activities with those pi anned by the Committee so that both the total cost and survey burden will be min imi zed . NIH Market Survey As mentioned in the Committee's report last year, NIH contracted wi th We stat , Inc ., in ~ 9 7 5 to conduct a survey of the marke t for biomedical scientists. The survey was done in two phases. The first phase was conducted in May 1975/ to derive national esti- mates of the number of budgeted positions available and the sup- ply of new entrants into the biomedical research labor force. A follow-up phase, conducted in September 1975, was des igned to as- sess the manner in which the positions were fit led and the degree of success that employers had in finding suitable candidates. Th i s survey ~ rew a str at i f i ed sampl e of empl oye r s to cove r all sectors, inch using academia, private industry, government, and hospitals. Emp~ oyers were asked to list all budgeted vacan- cies in the biomedical science fields for research, teaching, or administrative. positions expected to become available between May and September 1975. Those organizations that also trained bio- medical researchers (mainly academic institutions ~ were asked to specify the number of ind ividuals expected to complete their training between May and September ~ 975. Completion of training could mean either the attainment of the Ph.D degree or compel etion of a postdoctoral fellowship. A discussion of the result ts of this survey appears in Chapter 2 ~ Basic Biomedical Sciences ~ . The survey was repeated in 1977, and its results are expecter] to be announced shortly. NIMH Professional Training Assessment During its del iterations regarding training needs for health professionals in mental heal th research (Chapter 3), the Committee and its Panel on Behavioral Sciences util i zed the f indings of the 1972-73 National Institute of Mental Heal th (NIMH) follow-up study of health professionals who had once 27

received predoctoral or postdoctoral training support some time between 1948 and 1968 (ADANHA, 1977 ) ~ Published as a profile of the- "Professional Characteristics and Work Patterns of Mental Health Personnel Supported Under NIMH Training Grants, 1948-1968, " this report provides useful data regarding recent work act ivities, types of employment, -and -re- lated characteristics for a significant portion of the total num- ber of ind ividuals having niece ived such support over the years. The Committee looks forward to the continued availabil ity of such information from the Division of Manpower and Training Programs of NIMH. 28

FOOTNOTE I. - The NIH training programs in the field of mental health are small compared to those of ADAMHA. For ~ 977, onl y the National Institute of Chin ~ Health and Human Dewed opment (NICHD) supported training in this field ~ 45 trainees) . \ 29

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