Duties of Co-Director of Department of Internal Medicine Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP)
The PSTP was initiated in 2000 to provide mentorship for graduates of MD-PhD programs or MDs with significant research experience, who aspire to academic careers as physician-scientists in a medical subspecialty. Currently there are 41 trainees at various stages of the 6-8 year program. The details of program operation can be found on our website.
This document outlines the responsibilities of the Co-Directors.
- Review 100-120 applications for the Internal Medicine (IM) program and 20-25 for Dermatology.
- Select 40-50 IM candidates from outside institutions to invite to 1 of 4 interview sessions. Wash. Univ. (WU) candidates attend the sessions as well. There is a 5th and separate session for Derm candidates (we usually invite 3-5 for interviews).
- The initial interview sessions are held in November and early December and begin on Thursday afternoon with a description of the program and the outcomes to date.
- Arrange for 2 speakers for each interview session (30 minutes each) to give presentations at the Thursday afternoon introductory meeting. Speakers are selected from IM faculty to highlight the research ongoing in the Department. Dr. Fraser also attends when available.
- Arrange for current members of PSTP to meet with applicants at end of the Thursday afternoon session and another group to have lunch with applicants on Friday. Consider field of interest and school of origin when matching current PSTPs with applicants.
- For the 4 initial IM interview days and the 1 Dermatology interview day, interview half of the applicants individually for 20-30 minutes each. Prepare a short summary of interview and score each candidate with a grade of A+ – C. (Procedures may vary if we cannot hold in person interviews again next year.)
- Identify at least 3 additional faculty interviewers (chosen from any department) for each candidate during their initial interview. (Interview schedules are set up by the PSTP administrators).
- After the final recruitment session, meet with the co-director to select candidates to invite for a return visit at our expense. Usually invite 25-30 of the candidates and 15-20 will accept for the two return sessions which are held in late January/early February. During return visits which are held on Thursday-Friday, identify 4-5 faculty of their choice for each candidate. In addition, the co-directors meet briefly with each candidate. On Thursday evening of the revisit, arrange for a dinner in the King Room and invite Division Chiefs plus some faculty to match interests of the candidates.
- After the return visits, the co-directors meet to select the candidates to be offered positions in the program (usually 20-28 in IM and 2-3 for Derm). Provide a list to Dr. Dominique Cosco for IM approval and to Dr. Lynn Cornelius for Dermatology approval.
- Send out acceptance letters and wait for Match Day.
- With the co-director, meet with each member of the PSTP twice a year (generally in May and in late August/early September) to discuss their progress and plans for the next phase of training. Sessions are 20-25 minutes each.
- Be available to meet with trainees at other times as situations arise.
- Write letters of recommendation for grant/job applications.
- In conjunction with the co-directors of Pediatrics, Pathology and Immunology, and Radiation Oncology PSTPs, schedule work in progress talks involving PSTP trainees. In general, trainees which have completed at least 1 year of research are scheduled to present at a monthly meeting at 5 pm (2 talks per session). Dinner is provided when these talks are in person. Currently these talks are from 5-6 pm on the 3rd of 4th Tuesday of the month.
- In conjunction with Pediatric PSTP co-directors, select an outstanding physician-scientist from an outside institution to speak at Grand Rounds (Medicine or Peds) and present a research talk prior to the trainee symposium.
- Select senior PSTP members in their research years to present short talks at the symposium held on Thursday afternoon.
- The PSTP dinner is held on a Wednesday evening with PSTP members and guest invited along with the visiting professor, after dinner speaker, Dr. Fraser, Dr. Cosco, and members of the Board of the Mallinckrodt Foundation which provides major funding for the PSTP.
- Select an after dinner speaker for the banquet.
- One of the co-directors serves as Master of Ceremony for the dinner and introduces the guests and recognizes graduating members of the program.
- Work with PSTP secretary to select site for dinner and menu.
- In May a progress report concerning the activities of the PSTP must be prepared for the Mallinckrodt Foundation. This includes a brief report by each member of the PSTP who is supported by the Foundation.
- Send yearly survey to every graduate of the program to track their academic progress (academic rank, grants, publications, awards, election to ASCI, etc).
- Coordinate with the pediatric PSTP directors to send a representative to national meetings/workshops for PSTP directors.
- Difficult to be exact about total time commitment, but a guess is 10% effort.
Call for Applications
The Oliver Langenberg Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP) in internal medicine is recruiting a new Co-Director to assist with leadership of this program. The PSTP was initiated in 2000 to provide mentorship for graduates of MD-PhD programs, or MDs with significant research experience, who aspire to academic careers as physician scientists within medical subspecialties. Currently there are 41 active trainees at various stages of development. Details of how the program operates can be found on our website. In addition, a detailed outline of responsibilities for co-directors are outlined in the attached document.
Interested candidates should provide a letter outlining their interest in this position and an NIH biosketch or CV. Please send the materials to MEDPSTP@wustl.edu no later than May 31, 2021.