Research faculty development: an historical perspective and ideas for a successful future.

What does it take to be successful as a tenure-track research faculty member in a School of Medicine? What are the elements necessary to run a successful laboratory? How does one find the resources and help to know what is important for promotion and tenure? Most training in graduate school or in clinical fellowships does not answer these questions. Too often, new junior tenure-track research faculty members are left to learn from the "school of hard knocks" and essentially are reinventing the wheel, which is a huge waste of time. This article describes the history of research faculty, what makes them successful, and offers suggestions on how we can help them reach their greatest potential.