- Email: [email protected]
JACC: Heart Failure Fellows Program: Training the Next Generation
JACC: Heart Failure Ó 2013 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation Published by Elsevier Inc.
Vol. 1, No. 5, 2013 ISSN 2213-1779/$36.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jchf.2013.08.002
EDITOR’S PAGE
JACC: Heart Failure Fellows Program: Training the Next Generation
A
s the academic year begins, we are focused on a new assembly of trainees who will be the leaders of the future. One of my visions for JACC: Heart Failure was the establishment of a Junior Scholars Program, to train the next generation of reviewers and contributors to the world of academic publishing. Will there be clinical investigators in heart failure in 2050? This is a common question that I am confronted with personally and by my colleagues. Recent data from the top 10 medical schools suggests that the most popular residencies for graduates include ophthalmology, dermatology, and orthopedic surgery. Furthermore, a review of assistant professors at successful academic medical centers suggests that a minority of faculty members are excelling in clinical investigation in the academic ranks. As senior members of the heart failure community, we must take the lead in developing and nurturing the next generation of investigators. At national meetings, we must include junior investigators, fellows, and trainees to be part of the programs in all aspects of activities. To the extent that we can, we should advocate for them to be on steering committees, endpoint committees, participate as site-based investigators, and other aspects of clinical investigation. We should encourage a diverse membership of investigators that includes young and old, women and men, and underrepresented minorities. With this in mind, JACC: Heart Failure has undertaken the Junior Scholar’s program. In this program, each of our Associate Editors has identified motivated trainees who are cardiovascular fellows interested in heart failure as a career. Under their mentorship, they will participate as a group of junior scholars in the activity of the journal. These junior investigators will engage in the review process of manuscripts with senior mentoring, participate in editorial meetings at national meetings, seek out unpublished important clinical trials for the Dead Letter Office, provide learning objectives for continuing medical education selections, and work closely with an Associate Editor in the editorial process. Let us congratulate the following members of the first class of the JACC: Heart Failure Junior Investigator Group: Tariq Ahmad, Duke University Medical Center; Patrick Campbell, Oschner Medical Center; Parul Gandhi, Massachusetts General Hospital; Howard Julien, Thomas Jefferson University; Selim Krim, Oschner Medical Center; Robert Mentz, Duke University Medical Center; Preston Schneider, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Ravi Shah, Massachusetts General Hospital; Hima Vidula, Northwestern University; and Jane Wilcox, Northwestern University. I hope that by encouraging the next generation of heart failure fellows to participate in clinical investigation that we can make a small impact in redirecting their careers towards research and publishing. I am confident that as a community of senior mentors we can succeed in training the next generation of researchers and investigators.
Address for correspondence: Christopher O’Connor, MD, FACC, JACC: Heart Failure, 3655 Nobel Drive, Suite 630, San Diego, California 92122. E-mail: [email protected]
Christopher O’Connor, MD, FACC Editor-in-Chief, JACC: Heart Failure
Vol. 1, No. 5, 2013 ISSN 2213-1779/$36.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jchf.2013.08.002
EDITOR’S PAGE
JACC: Heart Failure Fellows Program: Training the Next Generation
A
s the academic year begins, we are focused on a new assembly of trainees who will be the leaders of the future. One of my visions for JACC: Heart Failure was the establishment of a Junior Scholars Program, to train the next generation of reviewers and contributors to the world of academic publishing. Will there be clinical investigators in heart failure in 2050? This is a common question that I am confronted with personally and by my colleagues. Recent data from the top 10 medical schools suggests that the most popular residencies for graduates include ophthalmology, dermatology, and orthopedic surgery. Furthermore, a review of assistant professors at successful academic medical centers suggests that a minority of faculty members are excelling in clinical investigation in the academic ranks. As senior members of the heart failure community, we must take the lead in developing and nurturing the next generation of investigators. At national meetings, we must include junior investigators, fellows, and trainees to be part of the programs in all aspects of activities. To the extent that we can, we should advocate for them to be on steering committees, endpoint committees, participate as site-based investigators, and other aspects of clinical investigation. We should encourage a diverse membership of investigators that includes young and old, women and men, and underrepresented minorities. With this in mind, JACC: Heart Failure has undertaken the Junior Scholar’s program. In this program, each of our Associate Editors has identified motivated trainees who are cardiovascular fellows interested in heart failure as a career. Under their mentorship, they will participate as a group of junior scholars in the activity of the journal. These junior investigators will engage in the review process of manuscripts with senior mentoring, participate in editorial meetings at national meetings, seek out unpublished important clinical trials for the Dead Letter Office, provide learning objectives for continuing medical education selections, and work closely with an Associate Editor in the editorial process. Let us congratulate the following members of the first class of the JACC: Heart Failure Junior Investigator Group: Tariq Ahmad, Duke University Medical Center; Patrick Campbell, Oschner Medical Center; Parul Gandhi, Massachusetts General Hospital; Howard Julien, Thomas Jefferson University; Selim Krim, Oschner Medical Center; Robert Mentz, Duke University Medical Center; Preston Schneider, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Ravi Shah, Massachusetts General Hospital; Hima Vidula, Northwestern University; and Jane Wilcox, Northwestern University. I hope that by encouraging the next generation of heart failure fellows to participate in clinical investigation that we can make a small impact in redirecting their careers towards research and publishing. I am confident that as a community of senior mentors we can succeed in training the next generation of researchers and investigators.
Address for correspondence: Christopher O’Connor, MD, FACC, JACC: Heart Failure, 3655 Nobel Drive, Suite 630, San Diego, California 92122. E-mail: [email protected]
Christopher O’Connor, MD, FACC Editor-in-Chief, JACC: Heart Failure