December 17, 2008
A new two-year training program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will provide multidisciplinary training for pre- and postdoctoral researchers interested in the quality of care for cancer patients.

The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management manages the program.

Dr. Peggy Leatt

Dr. Peggy Leatt

“This is a tremendous opportunity for researchers interested in quality and specifically cancer care,” said Peggy Leatt, PhD, professor and chair of the department and one of the program’s three co-leaders.

Other leaders include Richard M. Goldberg, PhD, professor and chief of the UNC division of medical oncology and associate director for clinical research at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Bryan J. Weiner, PhD, associate professor of health policy and management.

The program offers researchers a specialized curriculum, training experiences with multidisciplinary teams that focus on cancer care quality, and career development opportunities, including a mentored research experience. Four candidates (two predoctoral and two postdoctoral) are expected to be recruited each year.

Evidence shows that the quality of cancer care in the U.S. – from early detection, screening and diagnosis to treatment and care of survivors – can and should be improved.

Dr. Bryan Weiner

Dr. Bryan Weiner

“Improving cancer care quality requires clinician and non-clinician scientists to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary research teams,” says program leader Weiner. “For example, those teams need to span the fields of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, information science, public health and social work. We think this training program will offer scientists a rare and exciting opportunity to learn from all of those disciplines as they tackle quality issues.”

Although the program will be administered by the department, 30 faculty members from 11 UNC departments will participate as teachers and mentors.

“We encourage students from medicine, nursing, public health, social work, pharmacy, information science, and selected arts and sciences departments to apply,” said Weiner. “We want to train a multidisciplinary cadre of clinician and non-clinician scientists to do cancer care quality research.”

“This grant provides an unusual opportunity for trainees to immerse themselves in both public health perspectives and in cancer care delivery,” said Goldberg. “Through interaction with our committed faculty in a custom-tailored program like this one, we hope to develop a new breed of professionals who will bridge the relevant disciplines. We expect to graduate researchers with the broad perspectives and necessary skills to make meaningful improvements in the quality of cancer care delivered to the people of our state and nation.”

To qualify for the pre-doctoral training program, researchers must:

  • have a Master of Science, Master of Public Health, or Master of Science in Public Health degree, or equivalent level of training;
  • be currently enrolled in a doctoral program at UNC-Chapel Hill; and
  • have finished at least three semesters of doctoral coursework.

Predoctoral trainees will be eligible for salaries of up to $22,000 per year for full-time effort, plus fringe benefits. They also will be eligible for up to $20,000 for expenses, such as such as supplies, equipment, technical personnel, travel, tuition and fees related to career development, and statistical services.

To be eligible for the postdoctoral program, researchers must:

  • be a recent graduate of a doctoral program, without any prior postdoctoral fellowship experience or a senior researcher holding doctoral degrees who wishes to change the focus of his or her research to cancer care quality; and
  • be a physician, nurse, or other clinician who has completed clinical training and who now wishes to specialize in cancer care quality.

Individuals in the final stages of a doctoral degree may apply for the postdoctoral training program, as long as the dissertation will be defended or completed prior to starting the program.

Postdoctoral trainees will be eligible for salaries of up to $75,000 per year for full-time effort, plus fringe benefits commensurate with the institution’s full-time salary scale for persons of equivalent qualifications, experience and rank. They also will be eligible for up to $30,000 for expenses.

Candidates for both the pre- and postdoctoral programs must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the U.S., or must have been admitted lawfully to the U.S. for permanent residence (i.e., in possession of a currently valid Alien Registration Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification of such status). Non-citizen nationals are generally persons born in outlying possessions of the U.S. (i.e., American Samoa and Swains Island). Individuals on temporary visas normally are not eligible.

Applications for the 2009-2010 academic year will be accepted until February 1, 2009.

# # #

For more details and application information, visit
/hpm/the-cancer-care-quality-training-program-3/ or contact Bryan Weiner, PhD, at (919) 966-7375 or weiner@email.unc.edu.

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.

 

 

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