Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging, Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
Acad Med. 2010 Jan;85(1):26-35. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181c482cb.
This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of an expert consensus workgroup that addressed the endangered pipeline of geriatric mental health (GMH) researchers. The workgroup was convened at the Summit on Challenges in Recruitment, Retention, and Career Development in Geriatric Mental Health Research in late 2007. Major identified challenges included attracting and developing early-career investigators into the field of GMH research; a shortfall of geriatric clinical providers and researchers; a disproportionate lack of minority researchers; inadequate mentoring and career development resources; and the loss of promising researchers during the vulnerable period of transition from research training to independent research funding. The field of GMH research has been at the forefront of developing successful programs that address these issues while spanning the spectrum of research career development. These programs serve as a model for other fields and disciplines. Core elements of these multicomponent programs include summer internships to foster early interest in GMH research (Summer Training on Aging Research Topics-Mental Health Program), research sponsorships aimed at recruitment into the field of geriatric psychiatry (Stepping Stones), research training institutes for early career development (Summer Research Institute in Geriatric Psychiatry), mentored intensive programs on developing and obtaining a first research grant (Advanced Research Institute in Geriatric Psychiatry), targeted development of minority researchers (Institute for Research Minority Training on Mental Health and Aging), and a Web-based clearinghouse of mentoring seminars and resources (MedEdMentoring.org). This report discusses implications of and principles for disseminating these programs, including examples of replications in fields besides GMH research.
本报告总结了一个专家共识工作组的调查结果和建议，该工作组旨在解决老年心理健康（GMH）研究人员短缺的问题。该工作组于 2007 年末在老年心理健康研究招募、留用和职业发展挑战高峰会上成立。主要确定的挑战包括吸引和培养早期职业研究人员进入 GMH 研究领域；老年临床医生和研究人员短缺；少数民族研究人员比例不足；指导和职业发展资源不足；以及在从研究培训到独立研究资助的过渡期间，有前途的研究人员流失。GMH 研究领域一直处于开发成功计划的前沿，这些计划涵盖了研究职业发展的各个方面，解决了这些问题。这些计划为其他领域和学科树立了榜样。这些多组件计划的核心要素包括培养对 GMH 研究早期兴趣的暑期实习（老龄化研究主题心理健康计划暑期培训）、旨在招募老年精神病学领域的研究赞助（踏脚石）、早期职业发展的研究培训研究所（老年精神病学暑期研究学院）、指导密集计划以获得第一个研究资助（老年精神病学高级研究学院）、有针对性地培养少数民族研究人员（心理健康和老龄化研究少数民族培训研究所）以及基于网络的指导研讨会和资源中心（MedEdMentoring.org）。本报告讨论了传播这些计划的意义和原则，包括 GMH 研究以外的领域的复制示例。
