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(Circulation Research. 2008;103:771.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorials

Training the Clinician Investigator

Eduardo Marbán, Eugene Braunwald

From the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute (E.M.), Los Angeles, Calif; and TIMI Study Group (E.B.), Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston Mass.

Correspondence to Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, Director, Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, 8700 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048. E-mail eduardo.marban@csmc.edu

Key Words: clinician investigator • research

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
Medicine today presents daunting challenges to the young clinician aspiring to an investigative career. Among these are the ever-increasing vastness of the scientific literature, a highly competitive grant environment, and the allure of private practice. Despite these challenges, never have the investigative opportunities been greater. The "gap" between the basic laboratory and the wards is rapidly narrowing, rendering accessible a number of big clinical questions (eg, who really needs an implantable defibrillator? How can we repair injured organs?) that seemed elusive only 5 or 10 years ago.

Here, we reflect on the general question of how to train the clinician investigator. Both of us have spoken on this topic, notably at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association; the present document distills the essence of our reflections and recommendations. Although primarily intended as a primer for trainees and junior faculty facing crucial career decisions, the reflections have important policy implications for addressing a problem that threatens to undermine the future of academic medicine.

	Should I or Shouldn’t I?

 
In facing the prospect of whether or not to go down the clinician investigator path, the trainee must consider a number of issues and possible roadblocks.

Motivation
Are you truly curious and passionate about finding the answer to a significant question? Research should be the end in itself and not the means to an end, such as promotion or recognition (although both of these will ultimately come to the successful clinical investigator).

Length of Training
Specialty boards have generally reacted to the expansion of medical knowledge by steadily increasing the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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