There are three pathways for Clinician Investigator Program training:
The Continuous Training (CT) Pathway involves a minimum of 24 months of continuous research training with a minimum of 80% professional time devoted to research. CT Pathway training can be undertaken at different points during clinical residency.
The Distributive Curriculum Training (DCT) Pathway is intended for outstanding residents with a strong background in research (e.g. MD/PhD graduates) prior to entering a residency program. In the DCT pathway, there is coordinated entry into the PGY1 year for both CIP and the specialty program. The PGY1 and PGY2 years in the DCT pathway are identical to a traditional specialty training program; the PGY3 equivalent is distributed over the PGY3 to PGY5 years, with a minimum of 27 months of research experience. This pathway provides a means for well-trained clinician researchers to maintain research momentum during residency and to integrate clinical training with research.
The Fractionated Training (FT) Pathway is designed to distribute a minimum of 24 months of research during clinical training, in periods of 3 months or longer blocks, with one year of continuous research training. The FT option is for individuals who wish to pursue research that requires more than several years to plan a research project, obtain research ethics board approval and complete the project. It is particularly well suited for projects requiring recruitment and involvement of patients.
