Spotlight on Drahomir Aujesky, MD, MS
Drahomir Aujesky, MD, MS, began his medical career as a full-time clinician. When he felt that applying established evidence was not satisfying enough and that he wanted to make a contribution to medical knowledge himself, he became a clinician-investigator who spends about half of his time conducting research. His decision to choose a career in clinical research was also strongly influenced by Michael Fine, MD, MSc, whom Dr. Aujesky describes as "a terrific mentor and outstanding role model."
Regarding his training in Pittsburgh, Dr. Aujesky said: "I don't think I would have made it into an academic career without the Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP). In the program, I learned not only how to plan, conduct, and publish high-quality research but also how to successfully obtain government funding. Having Michael Fine as my primary mentor was extremely helpful. I firmly believe that the CRTP gives you a competitive edge over researchers without formal research training."
When asked what Dr. Aujesky considers to be one of the riskiest decisions he's had to make professionally, it is clear that the decision to move his family in pursuit of a career in clinical research was not taken lightly. "When my wife and I decided to move with our family from Lausanne [Switzerland] to Pittsburgh, we abandoned the security of well-paid jobs to become students again," Dr. Aujesky said. "When we left Switzerland, we had insufficient funds and no guarantee of getting jobs again back in Switzerland. When you move to a foreign country, you inevitably go through a cultural adaptation process, which may be painful at times. We received lots of support from the Division of General Internal Medicine and from Swiss funding agencies, and everything worked out fine in the end."
Since completing the CRTP, Dr. Aujesky has focused his research on venous thromboembolism. Using large U.S. administrative and clinical databases, he and his colleagues established a clinical prognostic rule that accurately identifies patients with pulmonary embolism who are at low risk for mortality and are therefore potential candidates for less costly outpatient care. Currently, Dr. Aujesky is the principal investigator of several other projects related to care for venous thromboembolism. The largest is a Swiss national cohort study on medical outcomes, quality of life, and cost of care in elderly patients with this medical condition.
"Overall, I judge my professional life as being more complete and satisfying than it was before," Dr. Aujesky says. What pleases him most is that several of his mentees have chosen careers in clinical research or medical education. "I truly believe that the prospect of a successful career in clinical research or medical education is a powerful way to keep talented people in general internal medicine."
