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“Career Opportunities: Supply and Demand Factors

“Career Opportunities: Supply and Demand Factors. Edward J. Zambraski, Ph.D. Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience Rutgers University. Fundamental Issues.

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“Career Opportunities: Supply and Demand Factors

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  1. “Career Opportunities: Supply and Demand Factors Edward J. Zambraski, Ph.D. Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience Rutgers University

  2. Fundamental Issues • Where do we stand in terms of the availability of scientists trained in physiology/pharmacology with the required expertise to work at the level or focus upon I & OSS ? • Is this changing ? If so, why? • What are the consequences and/or problems ?

  3. Integrative & Organ Systems Sciences( I & OSS ) “Scientific approaches aimed at understanding how biological systems function at the level of the whole animal, organs, and organ systems.” This would contrast “Reductionist Sciences” “Scientific approaches aimed at identifying molecular and cellular events, studied in purified form or in isolated systems and include genomics, proteomics, biochemistry and cell biology.”

  4. Sources of Information: Supply / Demand Factors • Trends in the Early Careers of Life Scientists-National Academy Press, 1998, FASEB Consensus Conference on Grad. Education, 1996 • NSF Data-Graduate Student Training and Earned Doctorates • Surveys: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) • APS surveys • Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO)

  5. Employed Biomedical PhDs(percent of total)

  6. Employed Biomedical PhDs as Post-Docs(percent of total)

  7. Scientists Employed by Educational InstitutionsTotal number of “life scientists” (AAAS Data)

  8. Scientists Employed by Educational Institutions (AAAS Data)

  9. Problems EnumeratedNAS/NRC Study • Mentor’s concerns over student prospects • PhDs-the “haves” & the “have nots” • Sense of “Failed Expectations” (assessed by traditional goals)

  10. Fundamental Issues • Over emphasis on the importance of genetics and molecular biology • Lack of information on the importance of physiology • Losing Physiology as a term, department, & discipline • Fewer & fewer successful role models in physiology (decreased faculty) • Negative observations • Investigators not funded • Closing labs • Limited job possibilities

  11. Doctorates Awarded 1991-2000 (NSF Data)

  12. Full Time Graduate Students Across Areas (NSF Data)

  13. Number of Physiology PhD Graduate Studentsat US Medical Schools (Physiologist 45: 179, 2002)

  14. While the number of PhDs in Physiology/Pharmacology appears to be “relatively” constant, there are very limited data in terms of the areas that these PhDs are focused upon. The general impression : It is certainly not whole animal or integrative physiology.

  15. Integrative & Organ Systems Sciences( I & OSS ) Scientific approaches aimed at understanding how biological systems function at the level of the whole animal, organs, and organ systems “Broad- IOSS” Using an animal model “Narrow- IOSS” Main goal-understand function as above

  16. Number of PhD Dissertations in I & OSSBiological Sciences/ Broad vs. Narrow I & OSS (LSRO Data) n=# bio abstracts downloaded

  17. Number of Total and I&OSS Publications in JPET (LSRO Data)

  18. Number of Total and I&OSS Publications in AJP Journals (Lung Cellular Mol. Excluded) (LSRO Data)

  19. Jobs Advertised in “Science” 1980, 1990, 2000Total jobs 10 randomly selected issues (LSRO Data)

  20. Jobs Advertised in “Science” 1980, 1990, 2000Total jobs 10 randomly selected issues (LSRO Data)

  21. Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO) Survey • Conducted in 2002, ongoing • Written survey of department chairs (Physiology/Pharmacology) • Sent to 415 different programs • Response rate (to-date) n=163 (39%) It specifically addressed the issues of faculty expertise, curriculum, graduate student training, and the importance of need for I & OSS.

  22. Number of Faculty(total and I&OSS) in 1991 versus 2001 Data represent responses from 157 departments. (LSRO data)

  23. Numbers of I & OSS Faculty-tenured vs. non-tenured(Data represent responses from 146 departments. (LSRO Survey)

  24. Number of PhD students being trained(total and I&OSS) in 1991 versus 2001 Data represent responses from 143 departments. (LSRO data)

  25. Graduate Student Training-LSRO Survey In 1991 a total of 71 programs indicated that they trained >10 students in their physiology/pharmacology graduate program. In 2001 this number was 82. In contrast, in 1991 only 24 programs indicated that they were training >10 students capable of doing I & OSS and in vivo whole animal research. By 2001 this number has decreased to 14 programs.

  26. I & OSS Science Courses in Graduate Program Curriculum • Of the 163 programs that responded to the survey, there were no changes in the total number of “I & OSS” courses within their curriculum from 1991 to 2001. • The majority of the programs offered between 2-5 integrative/organ systems courses. • No information was obtained about how often they were taught, enrollments, or whether these courses were “elective” or “required”.

  27. Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO) Survey Two General Questions (for write-in comments) I. What is your estimate of future needs for I & OSS scientists? II. Is the Issue of I & OSS trained scientists a problem, and if so, why?

  28. Is there a future need for I&OSS Scientists?Of the 163 programs surveyed, 105 responded to this question. Reasons why “YES” (LSRO Survey)

  29. I & OSS Faculty Hiring-over next 5 years.(Data represent complete responses from 126 institutions) (LSRO Survey) Number of faculty to be hired

  30. Is the issue of I & OSS a problem?Of the 163 programs surveyed, 124 responded to this question. (LSRO Survey)

  31. Is the issue of I & OSS a problem?Stated Reasons “Why a Problem” (LSRO Survey)

  32. Fundamental Issue/Problem Cited

  33. SummarySupply / Demand Factors • Number of PhDs and faculty in Physiology/Pharmacology--stable. • Number of PhD graduate students appears to be relatively stable. • Amount of science being conducted/published I & OSS appears to be decreasing. • Fraction of faculty with I & OSS expertise has fallen from 70-55%. • Fraction of graduate students being trained/capable of I & OSS has fallen similarly 70-55 %. • If there is a demand for I & OSS scientists, it is not readily apparent. • Despite the stated need/importance for I & OSS scientists by Chairs • Very few are being hired • Fundamental stated issue: research funding

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