Preparing nurse scientists for health services and policy research: Five-year outcomes of interprofessional postdoctoral training in the National Clinician Scholars Program

Kristen R Choi; Barbara L Brush; Susan A Chapman; Deena Kelly Costa; Shelli L Feder; José I Gutierrez; MarySue V Heilemann; Milisa Manojlovich; Devon Noonan; Linda G Park; Kathleen Potempa; Julie Sochalski

doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102024

Preparing nurse scientists for health services and policy research: Five-year outcomes of interprofessional postdoctoral training in the National Clinician Scholars Program

Nurs Outlook. 2023 Jul-Aug;71(4):102024. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102024. Epub 2023 Jul 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; National Clinician Scholars Program, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Electronic address: krchoi@ucla.edu.
² Department of Health Behavior and Biological Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
³ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA; National Clinician Scholars Program, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
⁴ School of Nursing, Yale University, Orange, CT; Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; National Clinician Scholars Program, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
⁵ School of Nursing, Yale University, Orange, CT; National Clinician Scholars Program, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Pain Research, Informatics, Multi-Morbidities, and Education (PRIME) Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT.
⁶ National Clinician Scholars Program, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA; Department of Family Health Care Nursing, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
⁷ School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; National Clinician Scholars Program, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA.
⁸ National Clinician Scholars Program, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Department of Systems, Populations and Leadership, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
⁹ School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC; National Clinician Scholars Program, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC.
¹⁰ National Clinician Scholars Program, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA; Department of Community Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA; San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.
¹¹ Department of Systems, Populations and Leadership, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
¹² School of Nursing, Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, Philadelphia, PA; National Clinician Scholars Program, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

PMID: 37487421
DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102024

Abstract

Background: The National Clinician Scholars Program (NCSP) is an interprofessional postdoctoral fellowship for physicians and nurses with a PhD. or DNP focused on health services research, policy, and leadership.

Purpose: To evaluate 5-year outcomes of nurse postdoctoral scholars in the NCSP.

Methods: We describe the 5-year outcomes of nurse fellows and graduates from six NCSP sites (positions, number of peer-reviewed publications, citations, and h-index).

Conclusion: There were 53 nurses in the sample (34 alumni, 19 fellows). Approximately half (47%, n = 16) of alumni had tenure-track faculty positions and had bibliometric performance indicators (such as h-indices) 2 to 4 times greater than those previously reported for assistant professors in nursing schools nationally. NCSP nurse scholars and alumni also had an impact on community partnerships, health equity, and health policy DISCUSSION: This study highlights the potential of interprofessional postdoctoral fellowships such as the NCSP to prepare nurse scientists for health care leadership roles.

Keywords: Interprofessional education; Postdoctoral fellowship.

MeSH terms

Delivery of Health Care
Fellowships and Scholarships
Health Personnel
Health Services
Humans
Physicians*
Postdoctoral Training*

Grants and funding

L30 HL159709/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States