Chapter 02: Medical School with a Path to Research and Team Science

Abstract

Dr. Mills discusses the Canadian system in which he received his Bachelors of Medical Science in 1975 at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada), leading to his MD in 1977. He also explains how he approached medical training with the intent of going into research: medical training gave him the breadth he needed for research by providing an understanding of how the body worked; he decided to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology because the question of why the mother’s body does not reject a fetus is an analogue to the question of why a host does not reject a tumor. Dr. Mills also explains that he wanted to go into research in order to have a greater impact on patients. He notes that medical school at that time was very clinically focused and that he felt some tension with other students and faculty with that mindset.

Next Dr. Mills comments on the shift in the focus of biomedical research to team science and talks about the importance of team sports in training individuals to work on research teams. He notes he is proud of his history of collaboration.