Promoting careers in academic research to psychiatry residents.

OBJECTIVE: With the shift of interest in psychiatry towards patient-oriented research with clinically relevant outcomes, there is a critical need for well-trained psychiatrist-scientists. The authors report on two developmentally tailored, longitudinal research training curricula designed to use peer mentoring to bridge the gap between physicians and scientists and to promote careers in academic research.
METHODS: The authors instituted two independent research training curricula, one for first-year and one for second-to-fourth-year psychiatry residents, spanning two campuses of one institutional residency training program. Each curriculum's participants included psychiatry residents and peer scientific investigators, and both were attended by senior scientists and departmental leaders. The authors developed and administered an anonymous survey at the end of the first cycle of the first-year resident curriculum to assess participant attitudes.
RESULTS: The first-year and second-to-fourth-year resident curricula have been implemented for 3 and 2 years, respectively. The authors observed overall participant satisfaction with the first-year curricula, independent of trainee status. Furthermore, first-year psychiatry residents reported increased interest in academic research careers after exposure to the curricula.
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that it is possible to encourage academic research careers using peer mentoring, an innovative approach that requires minimal funding, causes little disruption to the residents' schedule and engages the gamut of individuals involved in psychiatry care and research: psychiatrists-in-training and young non-clinician scientists-in-training.