The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors (APCCMPD) launched the 2024 APCCMPD and CHEST Medical Educator Scholar Diversity Fellowship and are accepting applications for the mentor position.

Created to improve diversity in respiratory care, this two-part award is intended for individuals with a record of supervising and mentoring pulmonary and critical care and for pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) trainees who intend to pursue a career in medical education. The first stage of the fellowship calls for applications from those interested in the mentor role by the deadline of Sept 11.

Fellow-in-training mentee applicant proposals will open in October 2023.

“This is a remarkable opportunity for medical educators who want to foster the growth of our next generation of medical educators and shape the future of pulmonary, critical care, and PCCM fellowship training,” says APCCMPD president May Lee, MD, in a release. “The future of pulmonary, critical care, and PCCM requires additional diversification to meet our trainees’ and patients’ needs. This scholarship for additional fellowship training in medical education provides financial support to the trainee to seek additional training and pursue a medical education research project that complements their interests. It also provides a priceless connection with a well-established medical educator who has dedicated time to provide guidance on their career trajectory.”

To qualify for the mentor role of the new fellowship, applicants must meet certain requirements:

  • Must have an established record of leadership in medical education. This may be demonstrated by independent, peer-reviewed medical education research, novel curriculum development with widespread adoption and/or effective evaluation expertise that is acknowledged broadly beyond their individual division.
  • The medical education mentor must serve as faculty at a different institution where the fellow-in-training mentee is engaged in fellowship training.
  • Must be able to devote at least .15 full-time equivalent for the 12-month program duration.

“Mentorship is essential when pursuing medicine, especially for individuals who have been traditionally underrepresented in medicine because, all too often, mentor opportunities come from connections that some do not have,” says CHEST president Doreen Addrizzo-Harris, MD, FCCP, in a release. “Through this fellowship, we are able to connect two individuals who could be mutually beneficial to one another and who otherwise potentially would have never met.”

To learn more and to apply, go here.

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