Current translational medicine fails to sufficiently bridge the gap between bench and bedside. This results in a tremendous waste in research investments and numerous biomedical innovations that never reach the bedside. There is broad consensus that clinician-scientists (doctors/surgeons with a full scientific training) hold the key to bridge this gap. However, the number of clinician-scientists is declining due to the failure to retain them in the academic and industrial workforce. The three main sources of this problem are the lack of established career pathways for clinician-scientists, the limited possibilities for integration of clinical and scientific skills and lack of awareness amongst stakeholders of the added value of clinician-scientists.
The first objective of this Strategic Partnership is to create efficient, sustainable and attractive career pathways for clinician-scientists, including the development and implementation of a mentorship program.
The second objective is to integrate research and clinical components in the training of clinician-scientists. This will be achieved by the development and implementation of two innovative online educational building blocks:
1) An online course on 21st century skills which provides the clinician-scientists with tools to integrate clinical and research values and skills during their training,
2) Educhallenge based on an existing issue from the industrial partners that will be solved in collaboration with the patient organization.
The third objective is to generate impact by raising awareness amongst stakeholders throughout Europe (including policy makers and regulators) of the added value of clinician-scientists in bridging the gap between bench and bedside. This will be achieved by the development of a stakeholder communication toolbox ensuring targeted and efficient ways of disseminating the results of the PATHWAY project to relevant stakeholders in Europe.
The project partners are spread over Europe in different geographical areas and are an excellent representation of the academic stakeholders in Europe. Together with the active participation of a large international industrial partner, a patient organization and an expert non-governmental organization the consortium is well equipped to effectively address the three objectives of the PATHWAY project and to achieve the long-term goal of the project: bridging the gap between bench and bedside by retaining clinician-scientists for the academic and industrial workforce.