Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders in Discovery and Care

As part of our mission to train future leaders and scholars in multiple domains, Stanford School of Medicine offers unique, highly flexible curricula that enable MD students to pursue clinical investigation during medical training.

With several degree and non-degree physician-scientist pathways available, most Stanford MD students pursue scholarly investigation and biomedical research – giving them the skills to translate research, create better understanding of disease, and lead clinical trials. In addition to traditional physician-scientist areas such as basic science, students have recently pursued research in diverse areas, including epidemiology, global health, health policy, and clinical trials and biomarkers.

Our novel physician-scientist training programs offer:

• Funding: Opportunities for fully funded research training
• Flexibility: The ability to change pathways to deepen scholarly pursuits
• Faculty Mentorship: One-to-one guidance from faculty physician-scientists

The Physician-Scientist Pathway at Stanford School of Medicine

• Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP): Students engage in a broad range of biomedical research, within the medical school, on the university campus or abroad as part of global health projects led by Stanford faculty.
  
• Berg Scholars: Berg Scholars pursue a MS in Biomedical Investigation while enrolled in the MD program at Stanford.
  
• Medical-Scientist Training Program (MSTP, MD/PhD): One of the nation’s most recognized programs, MSTP trains students and prepares them for careers dedicated to biomedical research.

What role do physician-scientists have in medicine?

Physician-scientists — doctors trained as both expert care providers and scientists – possess a mix of skills and expertise that enable them to have central roles in the basic science discovery process, test new diagnostics and therapeutics in clinical settings, and deliver discoveries at individual and societal levels.

Though physician-scientists make up less than 1% of the physician workforce in the United States, they account for 37% of all Nobel laureates in physiology or medicine and some 70% of chief scientific officers of major pharmaceutical companies and National Institutes of Health (NIH) leadership.

What does physician-scientist training at Stanford look like?

Stanford’s MD students admitted into physician-scientist training programs pursue curiosity-driven research to the depth of their interests. This flexibility allows them to transition from one pathway to another as they immerse themselves more into physician scientist training. Some trainees opt for exposure to biomedical research in a non-degree pathway, while others choose to pursue more research-intensive programs and graduate with an MD/MS or MD/PhD.

What is the Split Curriculum?

Stanford's "Split Curriculum" provides medical students an opportunity to acquire in-depth research experience alongside academic coursework. More beneficial than a gap-year approach, the Split Curriculum starts after the first year of medical training, with students dedicating half their time to lectures or clinical activities and the rest for research. Unlike gap year pathways offered by other medical schools, the Split Curriculum is unique to Stanford and allows students to combine research and preclinical coursework over seven consecutive quarters.

What does the funding structure for physician-scientist training look like?

Stanford School of Medicine is committed to creating an environment where a student’s training is defined by their interests, not concerns about future debt. Our clinician-scientist pathways provide full funding for research pursuits, and some pathways also include full funding for the student’s medical training.

Another differentiator, Stanford offers the Medical Scholars Research Program, a fellowship that supports medical student research, including scholarly concentration projects. With MedScholars funding, students carry out research under the direction of faculty members in the medical school, hospital and clinics,  throughout the university, and in some cases across the globe.

Addressing the physician-scientist shortage

The number of U.S. physicians engaged in research has dropped more than 50% over the past 40 years, and this has accelerated since the start of the pandemic. Stanford School of Medicine aims to address this urgent crisis by reinvigorating this pipeline through funding, flexibility, and faculty mentorship. These unprecedented offerings enable Stanford MD students to become physician-scientists who serve as a bridge between biomedical research and patient care. With transformative medical advances on the brink of reality – including cures for genetic illnesses, the ability to program cells, vaccines for cancer, personalized medicine, and AI-enabled medicine – the unique skills of physician-scientists will become only more important to advancing research, translation, and care.

Who should consider becoming a physician-scientist?

Stanford’s physician-scientist pathways are designed for MD students who have an interest in conducting independent scientific investigation during their medical training. The skills developed in these programs have broad application in professional environments, with demand across academia, health systems, and biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Most importantly, Stanford wants to attract and develop the abilities of students who have a keen interest in developing innovative solutions to today’s greatest health challenges.