Clinical and investigative medicine. Médecine clinique et experimentale
-
Enhancing clinician-investigator (CI) training at Canadian medical schools is urgently needed to bolster the dwindling work force of medical professionals carrying out patient-oriented research in a wide array of medical fields. The purpose of this study is to obtain, from the 15 Canadian medical schools that offer one or more CI training programs, data on the number of trainees, funding levels, attrition rates or other important metrics to evaluate the outcomes of such training efforts. ⋯ It is too early to know to what extent this increase in both CI and funding will sustain the workforce of Canadian researchers carrying out patient-oriented research. Monitoring of CI training demographics across Canada, beyond this baseline study, will be essential to measure outcomes from CI training programs and to guide response from funding bodies and policy-makers.