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Are Biostatistics Students Prepared to Succeed in the Era of Interdisciplinary Science? (And How Will We Know?)

Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems in biomedical and public health research. While the concept is not new, interest in interdisciplinarity is expanding, as reflected by the growing body of literature on interdisciplinarity, the increasing prominence of teams of researchers working collaboratively, and the intense interest on the part of public and private granting agencies to fund interdisciplinary research proposals. The reason most often cited for the mounting interest in interdisciplinarity is that we are addressing health problems that are highly complex; and complex problems require complex approaches to achieve solutions. To produce investigators who can succeed in interdisciplinary environments, training programs must impart an understanding of the rationale behind these approaches, how they are distinct from more traditional approaches, and the skills to be successful members and leaders of interdisciplinary teams across a wide range of health research initiatives. In this article, we discuss: definitions for multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary science; the rationale for interdisciplinary collaboration; a review of interdisciplinary requirements in training programs in biostatistics and the sciences; and implications for the training of future biostatisticians.