Long-term effects from early exposure to research: Evidence from the NIH Yellow Berets

Can a relatively short but intense exposure to frontier research alter the career trajectories of potential innovators? To answer this question, we study the careers and productivity of 3075 medical school graduates who applied to the Associate Training Programs (ATP) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the turbulent period of the Vietnam War, 1965-1975. Carefully selecting on observables, we compare physicians who attended the program to those who passed a first admission screen but were ultimately not selected. We find that program participants were twice as likely to choose a research-focused position after training, and considerably less likely to switch to purely clinical endeavors as their careers unfolded. Over the life cycle, NIH trainees also garnered publications, citations, and grant funding at a much higher rate than synthetic controls, and went on to mentor more trainees who themselves became successful researchers. The direction of their research efforts was durably imprinted by their training experience. In particular, NIH trainees appear to have acquired a distinct translationalstyle of biomedical research which became an implicit training model for physician-scientists as ATP alumni came to occupy the commanding heights of academic medicine throughout the United States.

Automated summary

The study found that medical school graduates who participated in the NIH training program were more likely to choose research-focused positions and less likely to switch to purely clinical work compared to those who were not selected. Over their careers, NIH trainees had higher rates of publications, citations, and grant funding, and mentored more successful researchers. Their training experience also influenced the direction of their research efforts, leading them to develop a distinct translational style of biomedical research that became a model for physician-scientists in the United States.