Introduction
General Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins is home to over 30 outstanding Clinician-Scholars whose primary responsibility is providing expert patient care at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and it affiliated practices at the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center and Green Spring Station. Clinician-Scholars also play a leading role in teaching medical students, residents, fellows and peers. Although primed to excel in these settings from the outset, most Clinician-Scholars need additional mentorship to develop into nationally recognized academicians. On October 1, 2007, Hopkins GIM established the Clinician Scholar Mentorship Program (CSMP) to meet this need.
The mission of the CSMP is to help GIM Clinician-Scholars to develop an area of scholarship, achieve academic success and build national reputations while enhancing recognition and job satisfaction.
CSMP Director
The CSMP’s Director is Dr. Joseph Cofrancesco, Jr. Dr. Cofrancesco joined the GIM faculty in 1997 after completing a General Internal Medicine fellowship at Hopkins and earning an MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a Clinician-Scholar, he has earned a national reputation for scholarship in HIV care as well as medical education. He chairs the School of Medicine’s Martin Abeloff Committee on Educational Values and Rewards, charged with measuring, evaluating, improving and valuing teaching within the School of Medicine.
CSMP Funding Sources
Major funding for the CSMP comes from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Internet Learning Center (ILC) lead by Dr. Stephen Sisson —the nation’s premier internet learning site for medical resident ambulatory education. Additional funding comes from outpatient and hospitalist clinical revenues as well as from the GIM Dowry.
CSMP Services
Scholarly Mentorship
The CSMP provides a variety of services to Clinician-Scholars.
First, the Director meets regularly with junior faculty to
- define an area of scholarship
- assist in setting time lines for scholarly work
- provide mentorship in all aspects of a scholarly project
- promote career planning and job satisfaction
- guide assembly of an Educator's Portfolio
- identify pathways to national reputation
- identify small grants and provide mentorship in grant writing
The CSMP Director also assists the GIM Division Director in the preparation of promotion and award letters. The CMSP Director also keeps faculty up-to-date on information and policy changes regarding School of Medicine career and promotion policies.
Senior Research Coordinator
Second, the CSMP employs a full-time Senior Research Coordinator, Ms. Amanda Bertram, to help with scholarly projects. Depending on the project, the Coordinator may assist with
- literature searches
- IRB proposal preparation
- data collection
- data management
- study coordination, including hiring and supervision of graduate students and research assistants
- preparation of grant proposals and manuscripts
GIM Clinical Research Methods Core
Third, the CSMP serves as a link the GIM Clinical Research Methods Core, directed by Dr. Jessica Yeh. The Methods Core is home to methodologically oriented PhD faculty in the GIM Division with expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, behavioral medicine, and data analysis. These faculty members oversee a team of graduate research assistants prepared to conduct statistical analysis for research projects conducted by Clinician Scholars.
Link to Senior Research Faculty
Finally, the CSMP helps Clinician-Scholars network with senior research faculty in GIM, and throughout the School of Medicine, School of Public Health, and School of Nursing who can incorporate them into on-going, federally funded research projects. By far the most successful link thus far has been with the Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) directed by Dr. Eric Bass, an internationally recognized expert in evidence-based medicine. Over the past 5 years, as part of the EPC center, Clinician Scholars have contributed to 6 major evidence reports, and have authored more than 10 articles in prominent peer-reviewed journals, including the Annals of Internal Medicine. Please see the Hopkins GIM Research page for the full range of on-going federally funded research in Hopkins GIM.
Link to Medical Education in GIM
