Tenure Track Years 4-6 Physician-Scientists
Primary focus: Maintaining scholarly productivity
“It helps you with priorities if you think of yourself as a ‘scientist-physician’ rather than as a physician-scientist.’”
~ Alan M. Gewirtz, M.D., Professor, Medicine
In many ways, the careers of physician-scientists mirror the careers of basic scientists on the tenure track. By now, physician-scientists’ labs should be productive, allowing them more time to write. However, unlike their counterparts in the basic sciences, physician-scientists need to establish a clinical niche in addition to a research niche.
They need to be vigilant about protecting their time from unnecessary clinical and administrative demands. A number of K awards offered by the NIH can be helpful in this regard. (See box below.) In particular, the K02 Independent Scientist Award offers up to five years of support with an expectation of at least 75% effort.