Program Outcomes

Over the life of the five-year K12 IMPACT program, we succeeded in training nine scholars total instead of the eight we initially anticipated. We were able to accomplish this because our first cohort of three scholars in the second year of the program (2018-2019) all went on to become independently funded and finish the training program early, leaving funding in carryforward that with NHLBI’s permission allowed us to train one additional scholar beyond the eight initially planned. 

The Program recruited three MD scholars in 2018, one PhD and three MD scholars in 2019, and two PhDs in 2020, one of whom was also a PharmD. All scholars completed at least two embedded research projects during their time enrolled in the program, and all successfully graduated from the program. 

Using educational evaluation and quality improvement methods, we periodically evaluated the competencies and experiences of each cohort of scholars and then adapted the IMPACT program accordingly with the feedback of our Advisory Committee. These evaluation practices also helped to identify content and methods for career counseling and the development of national networking opportunities, in addition to their impact on the delivery of program didactics. 

Since their enrollment in the training program, all nine scholars have been remarkably successful. As one example, by the summer of 2022, our nine program graduates had gone on to secure over $14.8 million as principal, co-principal, or co-investigators on federally funded and institutional grants. Five of the nine graduates secured an individual career development award through AHRQ, NHLBI, and NIDA and one received a large award (comparable to a large R01) from the Department of Defense. In addition to grant dollars and a number of conference presentations and accepted abstracts, since starting the program our nine graduates have collectively published 109 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, roughly half of which are first author publications. Seven of the nine have served in local, national or international leadership roles.