Educating and Training Tomorrow’s Biomedical Workforce

Abstract Morehouse School of Medicine proposes a pre-doctoral training and career development program with the objective of addressing the deficits of scientists in the biomedical research workforce. A recent external review of Morehouse School of Medicine’s Graduate Education in Biomedical Sciences (GEBS) Program revealed that while the program’s success has been satisfactory in terms of persistence in the Ph.D curriculum and graduation, there is the continued need for tuition support for Ph.D students, skills development to increase competitiveness, expanding the pool of potential mentors, and expanding knowledge and preparation for academic and non-academic biomedical careers particularly in data science, bioinformatics and genomics. We propose two specific goals and objectives of the proposed program. In Goal 1, we will support pre-doctoral graduate students in completing the Ph.D Program with the knowledge base and skill sets that will make them competitive for the biomedical research workforce. In Goal 2, we will leverage Morehouse School of Medicine’s Centers and Institutes, Student Learning Communities, and the Office of Career Connections to enhance the graduate experience and prepare scholars for academic and non-academic biomedical careers. The anticipated milestones include increased numbers of abstracts accepted for presentation and increased numbers of published manuscripts; reach the optimal average graduation rate of 90% for scholars with an average of 80% of graduates entering the biomedical research workforce; expanding the data science, bioinformatics and genomic curricula; and increasing the quality and expertise of the mentor pool available to the scholars and the overall graduate program. To accomplish these milestones, the program will include hands-on, focused skill development workshops; fellowship application development mini-camps; and active learning training for investigators. Sponsored seminars will include seminars given by scientific leaders in their respective fields; student-led seminars to develop scientific presentation skills; and career development seminars. Additionally, the program staff will enhance the academic experience of graduate students through Learning Communities, career exploration via the Office of Career Connections, and provide exposure to rapidly developing fields such as Data Science, Bioinformatics and Genomics.