ABIM Research Track?

[oncology2020]

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I want to do academic medicine and hopefully do research in oncology throughout my career. Is it possible to do the ABIM research track if not officially offered by your residency program? Can you "short track" and do the fellowship at another institution? If so, how do you bring it up to your program director without pissing them off?

 

[jlm2yb]

MD/PhD here and just matched to a research track. Research tracks offer 3 yrs of protected research time with guaranteed salary. In order to do this without the track, you would have to secure your own funding by successfully obtaining a research grant, which is easier said than done these days.

ABIM has strict guidelines on how this research time will be split as to fulfill the full clinical fellowship training (80% research and 20% clinical). Most traditional 3 yr fellowships, esp heme/onc, will allow you up to a year of research but more than that is generally not protected and a fellowship in your FOC is not guaranteed. If your institution is not ABIM research track certified, unfortunately it would not be possible for your institution to financially support you during your research time.

I'd say do as many blocks of research elective as you can and apply for a fellowship elsewhere in a program that emphasizes research and is SUCCESSFUL at obtaining grants. Not all academic institutions can do this. NIH RePORTer website can help you with this as well as doximitys fellowship search. Most programs that offer research pathways think of it as an investment in a future faculty member hence the limited number of spots.

I would approach your PD and just ask how you could maximize your research time during residency which may get you close to 2 yrs of research including the time during fellowship. Most PDs would love to hear that a resident is interested in research. It brings money into the institution.

Hope this helps!

 

[oncology2020]

Thanks for the reply. Lets say I don't do the research/fellowship at my home program and do my research and fellowship at an institution that does support the ABIM track. Would the institution where I do my research/fellowship be willing to provide financial support during research time? In the end it will benefit that institution more than the IM program.

 

[jlm2yb]

Most if not all oncology fellowships will require you to do at least a year of research under a mentor. Your mentor will having funding to support you but you may also be asked to write a grant of your own. It's good experience. If you did research during your IM residency during elective blocks and add that to your fellowship research, that is about 1.5 years of research. The ABIM pathway includes 2 yrs IM clinical training, 3 yrs research (2.4 yrs if you account for the fact 80% of that 3 yrs is research and 20% clinical fellowship training), and 1 yr clinical fellowship training. Here is a good overview of the pathway with pros and cons. http://www.pharm.stonybrook.edu/mstp/MSTPtalk-final.ppt

I guess the question is what exactly is your goal? Do you aspire to be a physician-scientist?

 

[gutonc]

Thanks for the reply. Lets say I don't do the research/fellowship at my home program and do my research and fellowship at an institution that does support the ABIM track. Would the institution where I do my research/fellowship be willing to provide financial support during research time? In the end it will benefit that institution more than the IM program.

Yes, you can do the fellowship portion somewhere other than where you did residency. You'll be applying a year early for fellowship though so you need to get your LOR and research ducks in a row relatively early. Programs that offer the Research Pathway do it because they're willing to pay for it, usually through a T32 or similar funding source.