Policy Recommendations for Optimizing the Infectious Diseases Physician-Scientist Workforce.

Abstract

The Infectious Diseases Society of America, HIV Medicine Association, and Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society are concerned by the continued decline in the number of infectious diseases trainees pursuing careers as physician-scientists and the attrition of junior and midcareer physician-scientists. The inability to replace the aging physician-scientist workforce will have a negative, long-lasting impact our biomedical research enterprise and its ability to drive the discovery of new treatments for important infectious diseases. We discuss policy recommendations for securing and optimizing the infectious diseases physician-scientist workforce in the areas of education, training, compensation, and mentorship, as well as ways to improve federal research funding, cross-sector collaboration, and workforce diversity.