Establishing a Career as a Clinician-Investigator

Shawn Aaron

Assoc Prof – U of Ottawa

Steps to Becoming a Clinician-Investigator:

Step (1): GET AS MUCH RESEARCH TRAINING AS YOU

CAN!

• At this stage, you may be sick of school, you may be sick of tests, you may be sick of theses……

• However, the more training you have, and the more degrees you have, the better off you will be.

Steps to Becoming a Clinician-Investigator:

Step (2): TRY TO FIND A GOOD MENTOR

• Find a research supervisor who is supportive, who is doing excellent research, and who is willing to put you in the spotlight and support your career.

• Speak to others who’ve come before you to discover who the good mentors are.

Steps to Becoming a Clinician-Investigator:

Step (3): GET PROTECTED TIME

• You can only be successful if you have lots of time to pursue your research.

• Make sure you have ~70% protected time away from clinical responsibilities.

Steps to Becoming a Clinician-Investigator:

Step (4): GET FUNDING FOR SALARY SUPPORT

• Sources: CIHR: – New Investigator Awards– Clinician-Scientist Awards– Fellowship Awards

Other Sources: Heart and Stroke Foundation, Industry

• Your Clinical Department (Medicine, Surgery, etc) should also be willing to provide salary support.

Steps to Becoming a Clinician-Investigator:

Step (4): GET FUNDING FOR SALARY SUPPORT

• Remember, you are a hot, valuable commodity.• Clinicians who are trained to do research are in short

supply.• Every department of medicine or surgery in Canada will

be interested in recruiting you.• Therefore you can afford to drive a hard bargain with

your department.• Insist on protected time and insist on salary support (at

least at the beginning) so you can get your research career off to a good start.

Steps to Becoming a Clinician-Investigator:

Step (5): DON’T LET THE ‘BASTARDS’ GET YOU DOWN

• You will encounter lots of disappointment in your research career, especially early on.

• Grants will be refused; many times the reviewers will say that ‘the investigator lacks experience’.

• Papers will be refused.• Refusals/rejections will continue all through your

research career.• This is the natural history of a career in

research.

Steps to Becoming a Clinician-Investigator:

Step (5): DON’T LET THE ‘BASTARDS’ GET YOU DOWN

• Rather than get discouraged, get motivated. When they refuse your grant, apply again, make it better.

• Grit your teeth, and show them you can do it.• The only way to succeed in this game is to put

your head down, and go forward, regardless of obstacles and poor reviews.