The purpose of this Working Group is to establish a “CTSA Visiting Professorship” consisting of virtual meetings (Phase 1) between “visiting” KL2 Scholars and their peers at other hubs and at the NCATS intramural research program, and eventually, once travel is permitted, in-person visits (Phase 2).
The CTSA Visiting Scholar Working Group is a CLIC supported work group. The purpose of this Working Group is to establish a “CTSA Visiting Professorship” consisting of virtual meetings (Phase 1) between “visiting” KL2 Scholars and their peers at other hubs and at the NCATS intramural research program, and eventually, once travel is permitted, in-person visits (Phase 2). The CTSA Visiting Professorship would include a formal CTSA Grand Rounds lecture, given by the Scholar, which will be open to the entire Consortium. In addition, the experience would include the Scholar meeting with scientific experts engaged in similar or complementary research at the “hosting” hub, enabling the Scholar to expand their network. The goal is that these connections will persist beyond the visit and that this program will foster exchange of ideas and collaborations among different hubs.
The Visiting Scholar program visits occurred every couple of weeks, starting in December 2020. There were a total of 53 Visiting Scholar participants, who received an email with a unique survey link to evaluate their experience at the visiting hub. Two reminder emails were sent to non-respondents for up to two weeks after the initial email. Of the 53 scholar participants, a total of 45 responses were received, with a response rate of 84.9%.
The most frequently reported themes reported by Scholars were that the program was a great way to network and make interpersonal and faculty connections, and that the program facilitated career development. It was also mentioned that scheduling and being virtual were minor challenges.