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VA Associate Investigator Award
The VA system is one of the few remaining that fosters the development of physician-scientists. One of the best portals of entry is the Associate Investigator Award -- the first step in the VA's career development program. That program is eligible to any licensed physician within 2 years of the end of training (i.e., residency or fellowship). The Award requires a VA-funded mentor, lasts for 2 years with an additional 1-2 years possible and pays approximately $80,000 of salary. This award provides the junior investigator 75% time for research.
An alternative way into the system is either directly via ads recruiting physicians into the VA or via academic positions at medical universities. If I were advising a young physician, I would suggest the latter route though. Some but not all VA Medical Centers have affiliations with medical universities and are known as Dean's Committee VAs. In such situations, doctors may have both university and VA duties. If a physician spends 5/8 of his/her 40 hr work week at the VA, s/he is eligible to apply for VA Research Funding. This pot of money is only available to VA researchers and is somewhat less difficult to successfully get than NIH funding. The VA also has additional career development opportunities for individuals who have demonstrated some success in research.
Frankly, from my own experience at my medial university, I know it is hard for physicians to establish a research career. There just is too much being thrown at them viz a viz clinical duties. The VA Career Development Program is a real gem in allowing a physician to link him or herself with a proven VA physician-scientist and launch a research career. I have had nearly 30 years of continuous VA grant funding. I simply do not think that would have been possible within the NIH system. The VA is a great opportunity for physicians who want protected time for research.
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