Personnel Needs and Training for Biomedical and Behavioral Research 1981 Report (1981) / Chapter Skim
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3. Basic Biomedical Sciences
3. Basic Biomedical Sciences
Pages 52-81
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From page 52... ...
the effect of training grant support on the quality of the training program. Assessments of these subjects as they relate to personnel needs in the biomedical sciences are discussed in this chapter.
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From page 53... ...
Nonetheless, a small but vital percentage have a commitment to a career in research in the basic biomedical or clinical sciences. Graduate training programs in the basic biomedical sciences primarily recruit from the pool of undergraduate students in biology and chemistry.
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From page 54... ...
Important elements among the mechanisms for support of graduate students are the training grant and fellowship programs of federal agencies. In the basic biomedical sciences these programs are primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health under NRSA, although a small number of fellowship awards in these f ields are made by the National Science Foundation.
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From page 55... ...
Most such support is obtained by competition in the peer-reviewed programs of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Individuals trained in the basic biomedical sciences through predoctoral and postdoctoral prog rams, such as those receiving NRSA training grant and fellowship support f ram the National Institutes of Health, f ind employment in a wide variety of settings.
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From page 56... ...
Demand indicators were undergraduate and graduate enrollments in the basic biomedical sciences, and the availability of funds for research and development (R and D) , both of which drive the demand for faculty in these fields.
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From page 57... ...
The Committee would It ke to devote considerable effort to examining this issue in the coming year. Proj ections Through FY 1985 Basic Biomedical Science Faculty Since the education and training of a scientist takes 6 to 8 years postbaccalaureate, the Committee must look beyond the current market situation to anticipate the supply/demand balance that will prevail several years f rom now.
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' E >, I:: _ es ~ ~ ~ ~ Cal ~~ o oo ~ t— _ e.
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FIGURE 3.1 Ph.D. faculty/student ratio in the biomedical science fields as a lagged function of life science R and D expenditures in colleges and universities, 1962~77.
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Biomedical Ph.D. Faculty Enrol Iment FIGURE 3.2 Life science R and D expenditures, academic employment, and biomedical science enroll.
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From page 61... ...
Ph.D.'. Awerded Annually in Biomedical Sciences, 196~79.
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From page 62... ...
b in the Life Sciences in Colleges and Universities I II III Gumptions about Graduate and Undergraduate Enrollments ~ the Biomedica1 Sciences and Medical and Dental Schools ~11 grow at Will grow at Will decline by 3%/yr.
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From page 63... ...
dls 1979 them Marc about 720 budgeted vacancies ~ bane Hence depez~cats of medical Fools lone demand for basic biomedical Ice faculty gmesatet by the Wed to reduce ~ Gumbos of Awed pod ~ about SO per year through 198S. eA~ are defined ~—w bird or ~05c who rejom facula from nonfaalltsr position.
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From page 64... ...
faculty in the basic biomedical sciences. As explained earlier, our def inition of faculty includes those individuals hired for purely research staff positions as well as those on regular faculty appointments, but excludes those in postdoctoral training status.
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From page 65... ...
About 9S percen~c of this group hold temporary positions as postdoctoral trainees and postdoctoral research associates. The projected demand for postdoctorate to f ill academic positions has been discussed above.
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From page 66... ...
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From page 67... ...
Because of the diversity, the Committee' s Panel on Basic Biomedical Sciences attempted to obtain data that would reflect both the distribution of practicing scientists across these disciplines and, more importantly, their flow into the disciplines and the market for such trainees. Ideally, the Panel would like to be able to identify disciplines or areas that should be given priority with respect to training support.
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From page 68... ...
recipients in various specialty f ields Britain the basic biomedical sciences. The analysis eras intended to provide information to identify f ields in which career opportunities have been most promising in recent years and those f ields in which opportunities have been especially scarce.
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From page 69... ...
D PRODUCTION IN To BAS IC B IOMEDICAL SCIENCES Total graduate student enrollment in the basic biomedical so fences, beginning in 1960 at about 11, 000 students, increased steadily to almost 42, 000 In 1979, the last year for which data are available (Figure 3.
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From page 70... ...
groupings similar to, but not identical with, those included under the basic biomedical sciences for the present study, that the time to complete degree requirements teas increased about 9.5 percent (approximately 0.5 year) since 1971.
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The percentage receiving federal fellowship or training grant support has decreased since 1970, while the proportion being paid f rom research grants has remained essentially unchanged (NSF 1973-77)
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or ~ c 8 Cal _ ._ Cal - C
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From page 73... ...
's. This perception was a major element in the Conunittee's decision to recommend, in its 1976 and 1977 reports, a reduction of 30 percent in the number of predoctoral trainees to be supported through federally f unded training grants, but to maintain the number of postdoctoral trainees and fellows.
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From page 74... ...
The Committee is attempting to obtain more prec ise data concerning the career patterns of graduate students in the basic biomedical so fences and the reasons for the extension of time taken to obtain the degree and for leaving predoctoral prog rams. In a 1976 survey of biomedical and behavioral science departments conducted by the Committee, department chairpersons indicated that the loss of training grant support resulted in significant reductions in program activities.
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From page 75... ...
In an attempt to assess the impact of loss of training grants on the departments incurring the loss, several of the departments inc luded in this study were asked to provide copies of annual reports prepared for intra-institutional purposes. Although these reports attested to the f inancial impact of the loss of training grant support, they were not a rich source of information about prog ram quality.
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From page 76... ...
· Support staff, important for the bioengineering training program, was reduced with termination of training grant funding.
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From page 77... ...
It is cliff icult, if not impossible, to obtain data on the effects of the deteriorating quality of university instrumentation on the training environment. However, a study by the Association of American Universi ties (AAU, 1980)
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From page 78... ...
The number of predoctoral trainees and fellows supported annually in the basic biomedical sciences should be maintained at 4,250 in each year from the present through FY 1985. Postdoctoral Training Levels The Committee has previously recommended provision of 3,200 awards (Table 3.6)
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From page 79... ...
cu.
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From page 80... ...
The accompanying decrease in communication among students, can substantially decrease the quality of the educational program. While the Committee recognizes that no hard and fast measures can be developed to establish minimum grant size in so diverse a set of training programs as exist in the basic biomedical sciences, it believes that a training grant, in order to be effective, must assure a critical mass of students and serve as a cohesive force for the training program.
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From page 81... ...
faculty to total graduate and undergraduate biomedical science enrollment; M = weighted average of last 3 years of real life science R and D expenditures in colleges and universities; M = 1/4 (Rt + 2Rt—1 + Rt+2) These expenditures are adjusted for price changes by means of the GNP price def labor.
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