The Pediatric Critical Care Trauma Scientist Development: Building a Community of Scientists for the Fields of Pediatric Critical Care and Trauma Surgery

Objectives: To assess the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Pediatric Critical Care Trauma Scientist Development Program national K12 program. Design: Mixed-methods study. Setting: Pediatric Critical Care Trauma Scientist Development Program participants from 2005 to 2018. Subjects: Past participants in the Pediatric Critical Care Trauma Scientist Development Program, including those who received funding (scholars), those who did not receive funding (applicants), and those who participated as diversity fellows. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Thirty-four past scholars, participants, and fellows in the Pediatric Critical Care Trauma Scientist Development were interviewed, including 19 women (56%) and 15 men (44%) via Skype. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed, with permission. Codes were developed, using qualitative methods, that included the following: Community Building and Mentorship, Career and Research Development, and Tensions and Growth Opportunities. Quantitative data about physician-scholar grant success were retrieved from the National Institutes of Health system to search for funded grants, RePORT, physician-scholar curriculum vitae, and university websites. Since inception of the program, 46 scholars have been appointed. Scholars are equally split between women and men. Four members of the total cohort (9%) are from under-represented minority groups in medicine. Among the total past 46 participants, 72% of those who completed the K12 achieved an National Institutes of Health K-award and 36% of those not on K-level funding achieved at least one Research Program Grant-level award. All scholars, except one, remain academically active, as noted by recent publications in the peer reviewed literature; scholars from 2005 to 2013 are progressing in their careers, with 60% promoted to associate or full professor. Conclusions: The Pediatric Critical Care Trauma Scientist Development Program is reaching its programmatic goals of buildin g a community of scientists in pediatric critical care and trauma surgery as shown by the qualitative analysis. Key challenges include increasing the diversity of applicants, encouraging applicants who are not funded, increasing the rate of K- to R-conversion, and preserving National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Program priorities for national K12 programs and individual K-awards.