Chapter 3: Early Career Outcomes of NRSA Predoctoral Training in the Biomedical Sciences

This chapter chronicles the early careers of NRSA predoctoral recipients in the biomedical sciences, contrasting them with those of their Ph.D. counterparts who did not receive such support. The outcomes examined range from the time required to earn the doctorate to the number of publications authored and citations received by 1995. Of interest are those Ph.D.s who earned their degrees between FY 1981 and 1992. The rationale is twofold. First, members of the NRSA study group who received their degrees prior to 1981 were likely to have had their NIH training support from pre-NRSA training programs, which may or may not have been similar to those funded after enactment of the NRSA legislation. Second, given the prevalence of postdoctoral study and the availability of data through 1995, this allowed sufficient time for most cohorts to have made some initial progress toward establishing a research career in their chosen field.