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
. 2023:12:7333.
doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2023.7333. Epub 2023 Feb 22.

Early Career Outcomes of Embedded Research Fellows: An Analysis of the Health System Impact Fellowship Program

Bahar Kasaai  1 , Erin Thompson  1 , Richard H Glazier  1   2   3   4 , Meghan McMahon  1   5
Affiliations

Early Career Outcomes of Embedded Research Fellows: An Analysis of the Health System Impact Fellowship Program

Bahar Kasaai et al. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2023.

Abstract

Background: This descriptive study reports the early career outcomes of postdoctoral fellows who completed a novel embedded fellowship training program, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship. The program was designed to support impact-oriented career paths of doctoral graduates, build research capacity within health system organizations, and help to advance learning health systems in Canada.

Methods: Employment of fellowship alumni upon completion of the program were tracked using internet searches of publicly accessible online sources and complemented with program survey data.

Results: Descriptive analyses show that all 87 eligible alumni included in the study are currently employed (100% of 87), with 92% employed in Canada. Their employment spans several sectors, including in academic (37%), public (29%), healthcare delivery (17%), and private (14%) sectors. Altogether, 32% of alumni held hybrid roles with an affiliation in academia and another sector. The most common position types were senior scientist (42%), professorships (18%), and director, manager or administrator roles (12%). Program reporting data indicate that these employment outcomes are generally consistent with the group's career aspirations reported at the start of the fellowship program, and that the program receives high ratings from fellows in the extent it is believed to support their career preparedness and readiness (4.49 out of 5).

Conclusion: We find that HSI Fellow alumni are employed mostly in research-related roles in a range of sectors including, but not limited to academia, that they positively perceive the program's success in elevating their career readiness and potential to make an impact - suggesting that the program may help equip fellows with the skills, readiness and networks for a broad array of employment sectors and roles. The findings are a promising signal of the demand for research talent and the growing capacity for learning health systems in Canada.

Keywords: Career Development; Health Services; Health Workforce; Learning Healthcare System; Policy Research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Atkins D, Kullgren JT, Simpson L. Enhancing the role of research in a learning health care system. Healthc (Amst) 2021;8 Suppl 1:100556. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2021.100556. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lavis JN, Gauvin FP, Mattison CA, et al. Rapid Synthesis: Creating Rapid-Learning Health Systems in Canada. Hamilton, Canada: McMaster Health Forum; 2018.
    1. Menear M, Blanchette MA, Demers-Payette O, Roy D. A framework for value-creating learning health systems. Health Res Policy Syst. 2019;17(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s12961-019-0477-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Smith M, Saunders R, Stuckhardt L, McGinnis JM. Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2013. - PubMed
    1. Greene SM, Reid RJ, Larson EB. Implementing the learning health system: from concept to action. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157(3):207–210. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-157-3-201208070-00012. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources