Here’s an interesting tactic in worker retention at the University of Arizona’s colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health.

There’s a growing shortage of clinical researchers, so the UA is developing a “Clinical Scholars Circle.” Up to eight young scientists will be paired with senior researchers for training and mentoring. They’ll also get research space, technical staff and time away from clinical duties.

The idea is to keep these young people interested in research careers.

The UA press release reads this way: “The need is critical: If more young health care providers are not trained and encouraged to pursue clinical research, it will become more difficult to move basic science breakthroughs from the lab to clinical care. And, if clinical care fails to advance, not only will patients suffer, but Arizona’s goal of developing a bioscience economy will be more difficult to achieve.”

“We are working to take clinical researchers from an `endangered’ to an `emerging’ species,” says Fernando Martinez, MD, director of the UA’s Arizona Respiratory Center and an internationally noted pediatric pulmonologist.

In the press release, Martinez notes that “only 8 percent of principal investigators engaged in clinical research funded by private industry are under the age of 40. This is due in part to pressures, such as the amount of debt most physicians face following medical school, leading most to pursue more predictable clinical-practice income. Another factor is the lack of clinical research curriculum in many health-related colleges, which places clinical researchers at a disadvantage when it comes to competing for National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants.”