Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 14;5(1):e174.
doi: 10.1017/cts.2021.851. eCollection 2021.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underrepresented early-career PhD and physician scientists

Jamie M Doyle  1 , Natalia E Morone  2 , Chelsea N Proulx  3 , Andrew D Althouse  4 , Doris M Rubio  3 , Maya S Thakar  5 , Audrey J Murrell  6 , Gretchen E White  3
Affiliations

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underrepresented early-career PhD and physician scientists

Jamie M Doyle et al. J Clin Transl Sci. .

Abstract

Underrepresented minorities have higher attrition from the professoriate and have experienced greater negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of 196 early-career physician-scientists versus PhD researchers who are underrepresented in biomedical research. Participants in the Building Up study answered questions on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their personal and professional lives, and a mixed-methods approach was used to conduct the analysis. While most participants experienced increases in overall stress (72% of PhD researchers vs 76% of physician-scientists), physician-scientists reported that increased clinical demands, research delays, and the potential to expose family members to SARS-CoV-2 caused psychological distress, specifically. PhD researchers, more than physician-scientists, reported increased productivity (27% vs 9%), schedule flexibilities (49% vs 25%), and more quality time with friends and family (40% vs 24%). Future studies should consider assessing the effectiveness of programs addressing COVID-19-related challenges experienced by PhD researchers and physician-scientists, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds.

Keywords: COVID-19; biomedical research workforce; career development; diversity; intervention; physician-scientists.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Institution and participant flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kent DG, Knapp DJHF, Kannan N. Survey says: “COVID-19 lockdown hits young faculty and clinical trials.” Stem Cell Reports 2020; 15(1): 1–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gibson EM, Bennett FC, Gillespie SM, et al. How support of early career researchers can reset science in the post-COVID-19 world. Cell 2020; 181(7): 1445–1449. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kliment CR, Barbash IJ, Brenner JS, et al. COVID-19 and the early-career physician-scientist. Fostering resilience beyond the pandemic. ATS Scholar 2020; 2(1): 19–28. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ábrahám Á. Early career researchers stand to lose the most from COVID-19, 2020. (https://blog.degruyter.com/early-career-researchers-stand-to-lose-the-mo...)
    1. Keeley C, Jimenez J, Jackson H, et al. Staffing up for the surge: expanding the New York City public hospital workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Affairs 2020; 39(8): 1426–1430. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources