Importance: Despite the importance of clinician-scientists in propelling biomedical advances, the proportion of physicians engaged in both hypothesis-driven research and clinical care continues to decline. Recently, multiple institutions have developed programs that promote MD-only physicians pursuing careers in science, but few reports on the impact of these are available. Objective: To assess if a cohort-based training program for MD-only physician-scientists that includes didactic and experiential curricula favorably informs participants' scientific development. Design: The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZB) Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program (PSFP) conducted a study from July 2020 to August 2022. Participants: 24 inaugural program participants at UCSF and Stanford University (median postgraduate year at program start, 5.5; 17 clinical specialties represented; 10 [42%] identified as female; 7 [29%] identified as underrepresented in medicine). Exposures: The CZB PSFP is a selective two-year career development program for MD-only physicians. Participants attended a two-week immersive training at the program outset, and subsequently, weekly curricular and scientific meetings throughout the program while conducting research. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcome measurements included pre-, 1-month, and 12-month assessments of confidence in research skills, career skills, and self-identification as scientists. Program satisfaction and feedback related to program curriculum and community were collected at 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months. Results: After 12 months, 94% reported satisfaction with the program and participants demonstrated increased confidence in research skills (mean [SD] pre vs. post, 3.79 [0.59] vs. 5.09 [0.42], P<0.01), confidence in career skills (4.00 [0.52] vs. 5.20 [0.38] P<0.01), personal identification as a researcher (4.71 [1.41] vs. 6.00 [1.33], P<0.01), and sense of belonging to a community of scientists (3.53 [1.40] vs. 5.75 [1.41] P<0.001). Conclusion and Relevance: Participants demonstrated significant gains in confidence in core research and career skills as well as personal identification as scientists, demonstrating the efficacy of a longitudinal curriculum, peer support, and community building in fostering development as an investigator. The highly portable nature of this strategy may facilitate ready adoption and implementation at other institutions.

AP serves on the Board of Directors for the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation. DNC serves on the Physician-Scientist Advisory Board for the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. AMS, TAN, SB, EM, and SSG received funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop the curriculum used in this program.

This study did not receive any funding.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

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The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethics committee/IRB of University of California, San Francisco gave ethical approval for this work (IRB 15-17981).

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I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

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All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.