The Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program: Updates and Perspectives on Addressing an Ongoing Need in Physiatric Research.

ABSTRACT: The shortage of physician-scientists in physical medicine and rehabilitation remains a critical problem. The Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program was developed in 1995 to provide structured career development training for aspiring rehabilitation medicine researchers. Initially funded by a 5-yr K12 grant from the National Institutes of Health National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, the structure was revised in 2001, continued in a stable format through three additional funding cycles (2001-2006, 2006-2012, and 2012-2016), and was again revised to a research education program (National Institutes of Health R25) model in 2019. With this change in format of the Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program, we now report the productivity of funded trainees and discuss future directions informed by the Rehabilitation Medicine Scientist Training Program's current R25 structure.