A 10-year analysis of American Society For Radiation Oncology Junior Faculty Career Development Awards

PURPOSE

Between 2000 and 2010, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) awarded 22 Junior Faculty Career Development Awards (JFA) totaling $4.4 million. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of these awards on the grantees' career development, including current position, publications, and subsequent independent grant funding.

METHODS

Each awardee was requested via email and telephone to provide an updated curriculum vitae, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) biosketch, and information regarding current position of employment. Twenty-one of the 22 JFA recipients complied. Reported grant funding was extracted from each candidate's CV, and the amounts of NIH grants obtained were confirmed via NIH REPORTER. Reported publications were confirmed via PubMed.

RESULTS

All survey respondents (21 of 21) have remained in academic positions. Subsequent aggregate grant funding totaled more than $25 million (range, $0-$4.1 million), 5.9 times the initial investment. NIH grant funding totaled almost $15 million, 3 times the initial investment. Awardees have published an average of 34.6 publications (range, 0-123) for an overall rate of 4.5 papers/year (range, 1-11).

CONCLUSIONS

ASTRO JFAs over the past decade have been strongly associated with grantees remaining in academic positions, success in attracting private and NIH grants, and publication productivity. In an era of dwindling federal research funding, the support provided by the ASTRO JFA may be especially helpful to support the research careers of promising junior faculty members.

Predictors of hospital CEO affiliation with a professional association

Based on a 2008 cross-sectional survey of 582 hospital CEOs in the United States, this study reports the findings of two logistic regression models designed to identify CEO and hospital characteristics associated with Member and Fellow status in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). The purpose of the study was to understand the personal and organizational characteristics of those CEOs who choose to be Members and Fellows of a professional association such as ACHE. The results showed that most (74 percent) of the respondents considered ACHE to be their primary professional association. The results also revealed that a master's degree in health administration [beta = .88, t(427) = 5.35, p < .0001], male gender [beta = .59, t(427) = 3.01, p = .002], and financial incentives provided by the parent hospital [beta = .25, t(427) = 2.73, p = .006] were statistically positively linked with Member status in ACHE. A master's degree in health administration [beta = .81, t(424) = 5.79, p < .0001], male gender [beta = .39, t(424) = 2.25, p = .02], and age [beta = .02, t(424) 2.32, p = .02] were also statistically positively associated with Fellow status in ACHE. Notably, organizational factors such as size, geographic location, for-profit status, and financial strength of the hospital do not seem to play an important role in the CEOs' decision to become a Member or Fellow of ACHE. The implication of these findings is that membership and fellowship at a professional association are influenced by characteristics of the individual, and incentives provided by employers can encourage employees to get involved with their professional associations.

A new Alliance: biomedical societies in Europe unite to support research

After years of stagnant finances for research, moves are under way to increase research funds in Europe.

"Evidence-debased medicine" and the integrity of the medical profession

Patients trust physicians to prescribe based on their fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of their patients, and physicians prescribe based on confidence in research data and clinical guidelines. Recent reports erode confidence in evidence-based medicine. Through self-regulation and a willingness to change, the medical profession can assert its status as a profession distinct from outside influence, serving one interest: the healthcare of patients and the public.