Training clinician-scientists in Canada: The CANTRAIN clinical fellows program

Clinical trials are central to the advancement of evidence-based medicine. Despite the development of the Clinician Investigator Competencies, which are integrated in the CanMEDS Framework and the Royal College-accredited Clinician Investigator Program (CIP), clinical trials-specific education and training for clinician-scientists remains fragmented and inconsistently delivered and available across Canadian institutions. To address this gap, the Canadian Consortium of Clinical Trial Training Platform (CANTRAIN) has developed a national, competency-based program for clinical fellows. This approximately 40-hour, asynchronous clinical research and trials education program is grounded in adult learning principles and enriched with experiential learning. The program covers foundational knowledge in clinical research, clinical trials and methodological principles, trial planning, national and international legal and ethical principles in addition to data management, knowledge mobilization, and dissemination to diverse audiences. By offering accessible, competency-based, and standardized clinical trials education in medical training, this program complements the current existing landscape of clinician-scientist training and has the potential to reduce barriers to education (e.g., lack of protected time and financial constraints) while strengthening and diversifying the clinician-scientist pipeline in Canada. Through this program, CANTRAIN supports a more informed and intentional entry into the clinical trials ecosystem, representing a significant step toward building a proficient, equitable, and responsive clinical research workforce capable of advancing Canada's leadership in clinical trials.