Challenges that face the academic research enterprise are numerous. These concerns include, but are not limited to: declines in extramural funding for investigatorinitiated research, an aging faculty workforce (the average age of securing a faculty's first R01 is over 42), insufficient funds to support faculty laboratories, and limited access to…

In the current era of limited funding, researchers need strategic alliances to launch or sustain programs of research to significantly impact the nation's health. This article presents a collaborative model, the Scholar Award Model, which is based on a strategic alliance between a College of Nursing in a research-intensive university and a…

The Mayo Innovation Scholars Program introduces undergraduates to technology transfer in biomedical sciences by having teams of students from multiple disciplines (e.g., biology, chemistry, economics, and business) analyze inventions in development at the Mayo Clinic. Over 6 months, teams consult with inventors, intellectual property experts, and…

The Practice Notes section is intended to keep readers informed about health education practice around the country. It is an attempt to spread the word about exemplary strategies, initiatives, and programs and share successes in overcoming obstacles or challenges. Periodically, articles presenting perspectives on practice-related issues are also…

Describes student-led research projects conducted at the University of Florida's General Clinical Research Center. First-year medical and M.D.-Ph.D. students collaborate on a hypothesis-driven experiment involving students as volunteer subjects and investigators. Feedback indicates students find the program useful and that it encourages pursuit of…

The medical scientist program at the Duke University School of Medicine was designed to prepare students with clinical experience for careers in basic science, clinical teaching, and investigation. The career selections and professional activities of graduates and the factors that may have influenced their career choices are examined. (MLW)

A program in one of the National Institutes of Health offers clinical training fellowships as a means of training potential dental school faculty by providing both unique clinical skills and high-quality research experience. The program was developed in response to a perceived need for change in academic dentistry. (MSE)

A voluntary summer research program, implemented at the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo, is described. Publications and presentations by medical students and responses of students and faculty members to a questionnaire were used to evaluate it. (Author/MLW)

A program to provide research training experience at the Mayo Medical School for third-year students is described. Surveys of student attitudes have shown positive feelings concerning their research accomplishments and the value of the time they spent doing the research. (Author/MLW)

Describes the National Institute on Aging Teaching Nursing Home (TNH) Program, devised to bring to long-term care research and training activities similar to those in teaching hospitals and thus develop an interface between research and practice. Conflicting goals, orientations, organizations, value systems, and practices are discussed. (JAC)

The 22-year-old Whitaker Foundation, the largest private supporter of biomedical engineering, will close in 2006 to avoid becoming a bureaucracy in search of a reason for being. The foundation, with assets of about $442 million, will increase payouts until 1999, then decrease them as it spends its way out of existence. About 95% of grants go to…

This report provides an overview of Minnesota's Medical Education and Research Costs (MERC) project, which was undertaken to gather data on the costs of medical education and health care research conducted by hospitals, medical centers, and health maintenance organizations and to develop mechanisms to assess the costs across the health care…

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, begun in 1969, was developed to allow selected physician clinicians to acquire skills not part of the usual physician's repertoire. The emphasis has included demographic, epidemiologic, economic, social, organizational, humanistic, anthropological, cultural, and ethical problems. (MLW)

A foundation program to bring research on health services and policy issues into the domain of clinical scholarship is described. The principal approach is to train young clinicians for academic careers with major responsibilities in health studies at university health sciences centers. (MSE)

This final report discusses the activities of Minnesota's Medical Education and Research Costs (MERC) project, which was undertaken to gather data on the costs of medical education and health care research conducted by hospitals, medical centers, and health maintenance organizations and develop mechanisms to assess the costs across the health care…