Physician-Scientist Training Program
The Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP) is designed to facilitate the development of surgical residents into academic clinician-investigators. This pathway is designed for the MD or MD/PhD graduate who is interested in a career that combines academic surgery and investigation. This track is designed to allow the resident to complete American Board of Surgery requirements in general surgery while providing time for intense research under the tutelage of a faculty mentor or mentoring team.
Most residents join this program after their third clinical year. Mentors serve as a sounding board for decisions involving program structure, choice of a research project, and long-term career development. The mentor (or mentoring team) is chosen during the first and second year of residency through a process that melds the scholar’s career and research interests with the mentor and funding considerations. Trainees may work with any research program at Northwestern University.
Why Do Research?
As academic surgeons, we live in a multidisciplinary world. Technologies, scientific knowledge, and new perspectives are constantly developing and evolving. It is critical that we have the skills in experimental design, execution, evaluation, and translation to participate and lead in this fast-paced environment.
According to the 2014 NIH Physician-Scientist Workforce Report, physician-scientists are becoming an endangered species, as indicated by the yellow line in the figure.
We hope that all PSTP scholars will emerge with the tools and training needed to engage in academic research at the highest levels. Areas of interest include basic science, translational, clinical/outcomes, healthy policy, innovation, and surgical education.
Starzl Academy
Feinberg has the infrastructure and resources to assist McGaw trainees interested in conducting scientific research. Visit our Starzl Academy for all McGaw Medical Center trainees.
- Check out the Funding Opportunities page for more information.
- Check out the Surgical Conferences Calendar for academic conferences.
PSTP scholars should plan to attend the Association for Academic Surgery Fundamentals of Surgical Research Fall Course in their first year.
Contact Us
For more information, contact:
- Karen J. Ho, MD, Director of Resident Research
- Kashmeen Raza, Associate Department Administrator