The American Federation for Medical Research has been a major influence on the academic career. In 1996 I was made the medical school representative for the WAFMR and immediately became involved in advocacy physicians scientist career development. In 1997 I became secretary for the WAFMR, then president, later national president of the AFMR always focused upon career development. To that end, with Dr. Kevin O’Brien, we initiated the WAFMR scholarship program for fellows and junior faculty. The goal of this program was to enable physician scientists at the beginning of their careers to interact and be recognized for their contributions. To achieve this goal we were able to raise funds for travel grants to enable participation of fellows and junior faculty in both regional and national AFMR meetings. A simple idea allowed us to bring a new generation of physician scientists to the national and regional AFMR meetings. I consider the Scholars Program to be one of my greatest career accomplishments.
In addition, through my work on the AFMR public policy committee and as AFMR president, I was able to contribute to the passage of the Clinical Research Enhancement Act. Working with the political system, the NIH and the other academic groups, we were able to create a funding paradigm for mentored career transition for junior faculty. These relationships and opportunities set me up for my career long focus on physician scientist career development. The AFMR is a relatively small organization that has a huge impact on the careers of physician scientists and the workforce for clinical translational research in biomedicine.