The Medical Physician Engineers, Scientists, and Clinicians Preparatory Program [MPESC-Prep]

There is broad awareness of the shortage of physician-scientists nationally. This deficit has profound consequences that impact scientific innovation, health policy, and leadership. Fostering the training of physicians and physician-scientists in the workforce by enhancing undergraduate educational, mentoring, and in-depth research experiences is a stated goal of the NHLBI and this RFA. To respond to this charge, we recently developed a pilot, integrated, longitudinal program to promote the training of students and future faculty in biomedical sciences and engineering. The program is known as The Medical Physician Engineers, Scientists, and Clinicians Preparatory program [MPESC-Prep]. We build on and expand our pilot to target three institutions who will partner with us to provide four key components that promote sustained scientific interest and subsequent professional success in undergraduates. These components include: an in-depth research experience, mentoring, community, and curriculum. This program includes identification of a research mentor and laboratory to support the student longitudinally through 2-3 summers in the same research laboratory. The mentors provide professional insights through regular mentoring meetings, and research experiences leading to research presentations and publications. Parallel shadowing experiences with a physician faculty member will provide complementary clinical insights. The focus will consistently be on the professional development of the students pursuing interests in becoming a physician-scientist/engineer. These focused experiences are supplemented by curricular content to provide a framework that is college-level appropriate while enhancing their understanding of basic biology, bioinformatics, and research processes. Finally, a series of informal and semiformal events (such as brown bag lunches) with their peer group, MSTP students, and faculty will be provided to further build a sense of community. We will evaluate the implementation of our program to assess the 4 core components of the program guided by a logic model with key inputs, activities, outputs and short- and long-term outcomes. Achieving these outcomes ensures that we inspire, nurture, and train the next generation of scientific leaders in cardiovascular, pulmonary, and hematologic science.