Fostering Research Mentorship & Training during Psychiatry Residency Supplement

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Project Summary: There has been a significant decline in the number of research psychiatrists and research fellowships for psychiatrists in the past two decades (Fenton et al. 2004, Pincus et al. 2005). Moreover, the number of under- represented minorities—those of minority racial and ethnic backgrounds, and those possessing disabilities— who dedicate themselves to psychiatric research has been limited. Exposure to research prior to entering residency with careful and dedicated mentorship can help overcome this limitation. Here we propose to continue a program to provide a supported, mentored research opportunity to under- represented minorities during their training in medical school. Such training (a) promotes research literacy and inclusivity for all trainees, (b) encourages future participation of clinicians as research collaborators, (c) provides experience that can foster choosing a research career, (d) expands clinical knowledge through the formulation of patient- oriented research questions, (e) attracts diverse medical students into psychiatry training, and (f) maintains and facilitates research interest among residents with and without investigative backgrounds (IOM 2003). The Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Psychiatry and McLean Hospital within the residency training program was developed to fill this need, and this administrative supplement directly addresses the issue of diversity of trainees. The goal of the PSTP is to prepare residents for careers as investigators in academic psychiatry by facilitating greater exposure to research activities and training during residency. Through its federally funded period, the PSTP has been successful in attracting and recruiting talented psychiatrist-scientists and has developed an effective research education program with appropriate infrastructure that has attracted clinician-scientists to careers in psychiatry and provided them both mentorship and research experience to prepare them for an independent investigator career in psychiatry and neuroscience following residency. With this supplement we will expand this opportunity to attract first year medical students from underrepresented in medicine (URM) backgrounds and introduce them to research training in psychiatry. The administrative supplement proposal will additionally allow us to (1) train 3 URM students in research literacy and methodology of clinical and translational psychiatric research through coordinated educational seminars and hands-on research mentorship and (2) include these 3 students in our community of psychiatrist-scientist trainees and mentors to expand their interests and understanding of the opportunities available for future training in psychiatry.