2025 APCCMPD Awards
Call for Mentor Applicant Proposals

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 1, 2024

Eligibility for Mentor Applicants 

Eligibility Requirements for the Medical Education Mentor

• 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. This award is intended for individuals with a record of supervising and mentoring pulmonary, critical care, and pulmonary critical care medicine trainees who intend to pursue a career in medical education.
• The medical education mentor must serve as faculty at a different institution from where the fellow-in-training mentee is engaged in fellowship training.
• Must be able to devote at least 0.15 FTE for the 12-month program duration.

Additional Medical Education Mentor Eligibility Requirements

Mentor applicants must:

• Be on faculty at a pulmonary, critical care, and/or pulmonary critical care medicine fellowship training program that is a member of the APCCMPD.
• Be an active member of APCCMPD and CHEST for the duration of the grant.

Application Requirements for the Medical Education Mentor 

All applications must be submitted online, in one .PDF document. The application must include the following elements:

1. Cover page

• Applicant Name and Degree(s)
  
• Applicant Institution
• Academic Title 
• Fellowship Program Role (Program Director, Associate Program Director, Key Clinical Faculty, Faculty, etc.)
• Applicant Email Address
• Applicant Phone Number

2.  Description of Medical Education Mentor Career (<800 words)

The medical education mentor must document a strong, well-established career and research in the area of medical education, including a high-quality environment with key faculty members and other investigators capable of productive collaboration with the mentor. This statement should describe:

• The medical education mentor’s career goals and objectives under this award, including prior experience and current support. Candidates are encouraged to provide a timeline for accomplishing these goals and how this award will enhance or include mentoring in their career activities.
• How the mentor's environment provides an ideal setting for supporting them, and guide trainees toward a successful career in medical education.
• A history of research projects or nationally recognized curricula that lay a strong foundation in rigorous design, methods, and analytic techniques appropriate for medical education.
• A history of medical education leadership locally, but ideally, regionally and nationally.
• The ability to enhance the participants' medical education training and research career potential through networking and mentorship opportunities.
• The mentor should provide the number of years of mentoring experience, the number of medical educators mentored, and the stages in their professional career.
• A history of strengthening medical education as a profession within pulmonary, critical care, and pulmonary critical care medicine, as demonstrated by the chosen career paths of trainees that have graduated within the last 1-5 years.

3.  Statement from the Medical Educator Mentor (<500 words)

• The medical educator mentor must describe their commitment to mentoring a trainee from an external institution for the duration of the award in a virtual format. It is not intended that the trainee would spend significant time at the medical educator mentor’s institution; however, some funds for travel to the mentor’s institution are included.
• The medical educator mentor must explain how relief from patient care or administrative responsibilities through the protected time of 0.15 FTE or funding of up to $35,000 provided by this award will contribute to the development or expansion of the trainee’s pursuit of medical education. It is important to convey to the Awards Review Committee the reasons for needing protected time to mentor new medical educators. It should be clear that this award will permit the medical educator mentor to spend more time mentoring and less on administrative and clinical responsibilities for their institution.
• The medical educator mentor needs to explain how they will be assessed and evaluated for their effectiveness as a mentor in the CHEST and APCCMPD Medical Educator Diversity Scholar Fellowship Award.
• The medical educator mentor must provide a statement of willingness to:
• serve on the Awards Review Committee and help identify a mentee fellow-in-training who shares similar career aspirations with you as a mentor. (December 2024)
• assist the recipient in developing a 1-year curriculum to further their development and training in clinical medical education. (January-March 2025)
• assist the recipient in developing a 1-year research, innovative curriculum, or evaluation project in clinical medical education with demonstrable outcomes. (January-March 2025)
• assist the recipient in developing a budget for each of the above. (January-March 2025)
• serve as a mentor to the recipient throughout the year, including regular check-ins and communication, review of materials as needed, providing assessments to the organizations as requested, and otherwise working to further the development of the recipient as a clinical medical educator. (July 2025 - June 2026)

4. Letter of Support from the Division Chief, DIO, or Department Chair

• The sponsoring institution must provide a statement of commitment to the candidate's development into a productive, independent medical education mentor and to fulfilling the mentor’s requirements of this award.
• The letter of commitment from the institution should provide statements concerning the amount of protected time the medical education mentor will receive; the duties from which they will be relieved (if clinical duties, the institution should describe specific steps that will be taken to cover these duties, such as hiring clinical staff); and the institutional commitment to enhancing the medical education mentor’s ability to be a productive, independent mentor.

5. Medical Educator Mentor CV

General Review Criteria

Review criteria for the CHEST and APCCMPD Medical Educator Diversity Scholar Fellowship Award mentor proposals are as follows: 

1. Overall Impact

• Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood that the medical educator mentor will prepare individuals for successful, productive medical education careers.

2. Career Significance

• It is important to consider whether the medical education mentor has a track record of effectively developing highly qualified medical education scholars who have gone on to succeed in their careers as medical educators. Have they previously demonstrated successful mentoring, with evidence of former mentees achieving productive careers in medical education?
• Did the mentor's research on medical education and/or curriculum development substantially influence medical training?
• Is the quality of guidance and advice the mentor provides to trainees acceptable? Additionally, are their roles extensive enough to provide this support?
• Is the mentor currently involved in any research or activities related to advancing medical education training?

3. Feasibility

• Is the institution's commitment level suitable for the mentor’s engagement in the CHEST and APCCMPD Medical Educator Diversity Scholar Fellowship Award?
• Is there sufficient assurance that the required effort of the mentors will be devoted directly to medical education training, career development, and related activities of the mentee?
• Does the Division Chief provide sufficient documentation supporting the medical education mentor's responsibilities, including providing protected time and support?

4. Approach

• Completeness
• Grantsmanship
• Grammar
• Writing

Review and Selection Process

Proposals will be evaluated for technical merit by (an) appropriate Awards Review Committee convened by the APCCMPD and CHEST.

As part of the proposal review for all applications:

• Awards Review Committee members who have a conflict of interest related to any applicants will be recused from reviewing and discussing all applicants.
• A review process will occur to evaluate proposals based on the General Review Criteria. Generally, only the top half of applications will be considered and discussed.
• Appeals of this review process will not be accepted.

Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates  

• March 18 - May 1, 2024: Award Submission Opens
• May 1 - June 30, 2024: Awards Committee Review
• July 5, 2024: Award Notification
• October 6-8, 2024: Presentation of Mentor at CHEST 2024 Opening Ceremonies
• September 1 - November 1, 2024: Mentee Application Submission
• November 1 – December 15, 2024: Mentee Identification
• January 1 - February 28, 2025: Advisement of the Mentee to develop 1-year medical education training roadmap
• July 1, 2025: Formal mentoring commences

Reporting

The medical education Mentor and Mentee must provide progress reports at the following milestones:

• March 1, 2025: A summary 1-year medical education training roadmap
• Quarterly Progress Reports
• July 1-September 30, 2025: Due October 31, 2025
• October 1, 2015 -December 31, 2026: Due January 31, 2026
• February 1 - March 31, 2026: Due April 30, 2026
• May 1 - June 30, 2025: Due on July 31, 2026
• Final Report, including a budget reconciliation

Contact

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants. Please email Joyce Reitzner at [email protected]