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Research fellows in hematology, oncology benefit from career development workshops

Workshops enhance practice and research skills and provide valuable networking opportunities.

Issue: October 1, 2006

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Research fellows should consider attending weekend career development workshops that will supplement classroom knowledge and provide opportunities to network and build contacts both in the United States and internationally.

Each workshop has a specific focus such as a certain class of drug, communications in medicine or protocol writing. According to the ASH Web site, these workshops “prepare fellows for careers in patient-oriented [practice] and translational research by giving them the tools, mentoring and access to resources necessary for success.”

Intensive instruction

The knowledge gained during the intensive didactic portion of these workshops is in-depth and often covers topics that would appear on the boards. The material is often too detailed for teaching during the course of a fellowship.

For example, the AACR and ASCO jointly offer a workshop on methods in clinical research that teaches fellows to create a protocol and project timeline. The Cancer Education Consortium offers a communication workshop that teaches effective patient-physician communication techniques. Other workshops include topics such as statistics, ethics and specific classes of drugs.

The workshops offer relevant and useful information, according to Merrill Egorin, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Egorin is also co-director of the Molecular Therapeutics/Drug Discovery Program and director of the Clinical Pharmacology Analytical Facility Core, both at UPCI.

Each year, fellows who attend CEC workshops are asked to provide feedback about the workshops. The fellows often respond that the workshops contained information that is needed for the boards, but not covered during their fellowships, said Egorin, who is also a director of the CEC’s Pharmacology of Anticancer Agents Workshop.

Workshops also keep research fellows updated on new technologies, lab techniques, chemotherapeutics and career strategies, said Svetlana Lisanti, executive director for Bio-medical Communication Inc. of Hackensack, N.J.

Networking opportunities

These meetings provide fellows with opportunities to cultivate professional relationships and interact with prominent researchers and other fellows.

“Cross-pollination is an important component of these programs,” said Lisanti, who is also on the board of trustees for CEC.

The informal discussions are as valuable as the knowledge gained during didactics. Fellows can establish contacts and develop long-lasting interactions that could lead to future collaborations, which enable them to optimize techniques and protocols during their fellowship and in their careers.

Fellows can also meet leading researchers and hear objective reviews and criticism of their work. “The lecturers who teach [at these workshops] are the smartest, best and brightest,” Egorin said. “Outside of the workshop environment, these researchers/faculty can be intimidating to many fellows. The ability to share a beer and get to know leaders in the field breaks down perceived barriers and has a humanizing influence.”

Top researchers participate as faculty in these workshops for minimal compensation, and many faculty members stay the duration of the workshop to interact informally with fellows. This gives fellows the opportunity “to explore questions and get guidance from people who are very accomplished in the field,” Lisanti said.

“Faculty who participate [in these workshops] do so because they are committed to raising the next generation of doctors and researchers,” Egorin said.

When choosing a workshop, fellows should look at the faculty-to-fellows ratio. For example, CEC workshops generally admit 20 to 25 fellows and 18 lecturers. Besides clinical instruction, fellows can also refine presentation skills.

The workshops are mostly sponsored by philanthropic individuals, pharmaceutical companies or foundations that provide unrestricted educational grants, even though they may not directly benefit from the workshops.

Choosing a workshop

Both Lisanti and Egorin said that fellows should not just apply to any or all available workshops. Application to these programs “is a self-selecting process,” Lisanti said. Each workshop has a different focus that should be appropriate to the research and course of study.

Egorin said that when choosing a workshop, fellow should consider:

• career goals
• necessary skills, and how they will be enhanced
• if the workshop pertains specifically to the fellowship, in order to receive supervisor approval.

Fellows and junior faculty within three years of completing fellowship training are encouraged to take part in the workshops. The most advisable time for fellows to apply is in their second or third year of fellowship, considering the nature of the workshop. Some, like those that include protocol development, require more time after the completion of the workshop.

“The goal is often that the study designed is finished in a fashion that is to be useful during the fellowship,” Egorin said. – by Lyndsey Russell