Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic system
Abstract “Medical scientists” are postgraduate investigators who are engaged in biomedical research, and either hold a biomedical PhD or are qualified in medicine but do not participate in patient care. Medical scientists constitute ~40% of staff at medical faculties and >90% at nonuniversity med...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Physiological Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.70055 |
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| author | Katrin Streckfuss‐Bömeke Nicolle Kränkel Christoph Maack Renate B. Schnabel Laura C. Zelarayán Norbert Frey Peter Jezzard Martina Krüger Nico Lachmann Susanne Lutz Claudia Noack Eric Schoger Katrin Schröder Laura C. Sommerfeld Sabine Steffens Holger Winkels Christina Würtz Tanja Zeller Eva A. Rog‐Zielinska Peter Kohl |
| author_facet | Katrin Streckfuss‐Bömeke Nicolle Kränkel Christoph Maack Renate B. Schnabel Laura C. Zelarayán Norbert Frey Peter Jezzard Martina Krüger Nico Lachmann Susanne Lutz Claudia Noack Eric Schoger Katrin Schröder Laura C. Sommerfeld Sabine Steffens Holger Winkels Christina Würtz Tanja Zeller Eva A. Rog‐Zielinska Peter Kohl |
| author_sort | Katrin Streckfuss‐Bömeke |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract “Medical scientists” are postgraduate investigators who are engaged in biomedical research, and either hold a biomedical PhD or are qualified in medicine but do not participate in patient care. Medical scientists constitute ~40% of staff at medical faculties and >90% at nonuniversity medical research institutions in Germany. However, medical scientists in Germany face limited long‐term career prospects and a lack of dedicated training and support programmes. They also face time limits on their career progression arising from national academic employment legislation, and imminent reforms by the German government are likely to make this worse. Nevertheless, recent developments in the educational landscape including the introduction of increasingly focused MSc, pre‐PhD, and doctoral programmes to train medically aware basic scientists, as well as improved general recognition of the roles and relevance of medical scientists in health research, are encouraging. Physiologists have taken essential steps to improve the recognition of medical scientists in Germany by introducing a “specialist physiologist” qualification; this initiative could be applied to support medical scientists in other fields and countries. In this review, we describe the particular challenges facing medical scientists in Germany and make recommendations that may apply to other academic systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-98e54c7d18e6449687d8fed41c0804a1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2051-817X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physiological Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-98e54c7d18e6449687d8fed41c0804a12025-01-25T06:41:00ZengWileyPhysiological Reports2051-817X2024-11-011221n/an/a10.14814/phy2.70055Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic systemKatrin Streckfuss‐Bömeke0Nicolle Kränkel1Christoph Maack2Renate B. Schnabel3Laura C. Zelarayán4Norbert Frey5Peter Jezzard6Martina Krüger7Nico Lachmann8Susanne Lutz9Claudia Noack10Eric Schoger11Katrin Schröder12Laura C. Sommerfeld13Sabine Steffens14Holger Winkels15Christina Würtz16Tanja Zeller17Eva A. Rog‐Zielinska18Peter Kohl19Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Würzburg Würzburg GermanyDeutsches Herzzentrum der Charité, Klinik für Kardiologie, Angiologie Und Intensivmedizin Campus Benjamin‐Franklin (CBF) Berlin GermanyComprehensive Heart Failure Center University Clinic Würzburg Würzburg GermanyDepartment of Cardiology University Heart & Vascular Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg GermanyDZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Göttingen Göttingen GermanyDepartment of Medicine III: Cardiology, Angiology, and Pneumology Heidelberg University Heidelberg GermanyWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging University of Oxford Oxford UKInstitute of Cardiovascular Physiology, University Hospital Düsseldorf Düsseldorf GermanyDepartment for Pediatric Pneumology, Allergology and Neonatology Hannover Medical School Hanover GermanyDZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Göttingen Göttingen GermanyNuvisan ICB GmbH, Department Therapeutic Research Berlin GermanyDZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Göttingen Göttingen GermanyInstitute for Cardiovascular Physiology, Goethe University Frankfurt Am Main GermanyGerman Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) Partner Site Hamburg/Kiel/Lübeck Hamburg GermanyInstitute for Cardiovascular Prevention (IPEK), Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität Munich GermanyUniversity of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Clinic III for Internal Medicine Cologne GermanyInstitute of Cardiovascular Physiology University Medical Center Göttingen Göttingen GermanyDepartment of Cardiology University Heart & Vascular Center Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg GermanyInstitute for Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine University Heart Center Freiburg · Bad Krozingen, University of Freiburg Freiburg GermanyInstitute for Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine University Heart Center Freiburg · Bad Krozingen, University of Freiburg Freiburg GermanyAbstract “Medical scientists” are postgraduate investigators who are engaged in biomedical research, and either hold a biomedical PhD or are qualified in medicine but do not participate in patient care. Medical scientists constitute ~40% of staff at medical faculties and >90% at nonuniversity medical research institutions in Germany. However, medical scientists in Germany face limited long‐term career prospects and a lack of dedicated training and support programmes. They also face time limits on their career progression arising from national academic employment legislation, and imminent reforms by the German government are likely to make this worse. Nevertheless, recent developments in the educational landscape including the introduction of increasingly focused MSc, pre‐PhD, and doctoral programmes to train medically aware basic scientists, as well as improved general recognition of the roles and relevance of medical scientists in health research, are encouraging. Physiologists have taken essential steps to improve the recognition of medical scientists in Germany by introducing a “specialist physiologist” qualification; this initiative could be applied to support medical scientists in other fields and countries. In this review, we describe the particular challenges facing medical scientists in Germany and make recommendations that may apply to other academic systems.https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.70055fundingmedical scientistsphysiologistsprofessional developmenttrainingwhite paper |
| spellingShingle | Katrin Streckfuss‐Bömeke Nicolle Kränkel Christoph Maack Renate B. Schnabel Laura C. Zelarayán Norbert Frey Peter Jezzard Martina Krüger Nico Lachmann Susanne Lutz Claudia Noack Eric Schoger Katrin Schröder Laura C. Sommerfeld Sabine Steffens Holger Winkels Christina Würtz Tanja Zeller Eva A. Rog‐Zielinska Peter Kohl Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic system Physiological Reports funding medical scientists physiologists professional development training white paper |
| title | Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic system |
| title_full | Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic system |
| title_fullStr | Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic system |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic system |
| title_short | Physiologists as medical scientists: An early warning from the German academic system |
| title_sort | physiologists as medical scientists an early warning from the german academic system |
| topic | funding medical scientists physiologists professional development training white paper |
| url | https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.70055 |
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