2025 APCCMPD Awards
Call for Mentee Applicant Proposals

CHEST and APCCMPD Medical Educator Diversity Scholar Fellowship Award
 


SUBMISSION DEADLINE: November 1, 2024



Eligibility for Mentee Applicants  

CHEST and APCCMPD Medical Educator Diversity Scholarship Fellowship provides an opportunity for one Pulmonary, Critical Care, or PCCM Fellow in training to pursue a year of training and guided mentorship in education training and scholarship.

The program focuses on creating opportunities for fellows at institutions with no formalized medical education training, resources, or limited medical educator mentors. The program pairs the trainee with an experienced medical education mentor who works at an institution with formal resources to foster their development as a medical educator.

Applicant trainees should meet the following criteria:

  • A commitment to pursue a career as a medical educator in Pulmonary, Critical Care, or PCCM and to mentor future trainees pursuing a career in medical education.
  • Is training at an institution with limited medical education training opportunities, resources, or mentors.
  • Possess unique qualities and have had diverse experiences that they can contribute to a diverse educational environment.

Eligibility Requirements for the Medical Education Mentee

  • A 1st-year fellow-in-training in a 2-year fellowship training program or a 1st or 2nd-year fellow-in-training in a 3-year fellowship training program at an ACGME accredited Pulmonary, Critical care, or Pulmonary/Critical Care fellowship.
  • The applicant must be a member of CHEST and training at a fellowship program that is a member of the APCCMPD.
  • The program must provide the applicant with at least 50% protected time to fulfill the requirements and commitments of this award.
  • Priority will be given to trainees whose experiences significantly contribute to the diversity of the medical educator community. This includes the variety of personal experiences and career choices, values, and worldviews that arise from differences in culture and circumstance. The exclusion of diverse groups and perspectives from health care contributes to significant health disparities, impeding our ability to achieve health equity for all communities. 

Application Requirements for the Medical Education Mentee

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

1. Cover page (Download)

2. Applicant CV

3.  A Statement expressing interest that includes the following: 

  • Why you are interested in becoming a medical educator, including areas of interest and education skills to be developed (<500 words)
  • Background, including unique qualities and experiences that can contribute to diversity in medical education (>300 words).

4. Letter of Support from the Program Director

The letter must:

  • Provide a statement of commitment to the candidate's development into a productive and independent medical educator during the award period.
  • Provide a statement of commitment from the program to provide the applicant with at least 50% protected time to fulfill the requirements and commitments of this award. It is important to note that the scholarship is designed to fund a trainee's research activities directly related to the grant and medical educational instruction developed among the trainee and mentor. As this scholarship occurs during the standard ACGME fellowship, fellows should continue to be funded through their normal sources.
  • Provide a statement of commitment that, if awarded, the candidate will have the opportunity to apply their medical education training, contributing to the applicant's success in fulfilling the award's requirements.
  • The mentee will work with an awarded mentor to design and complete a 1-year medical education research project during the term of this award. The Program Director should attest to the commitment of the fellowship program and institution to support the applicant’s ability to fulfill this requirement and all commitments of this award.

Additional Submission Information  

Proposals must:

  1. Be submitted online in one .PDF document, with page numbers inserted. Emailed or mailed applications will not be accepted.
  2. Be submitted by November 1, 2024. The awarded trainee will be announced at the 2025 APCCMPD Annual Conference. The awarded trainee is encouraged to attend the 2025 APCCMPD Annual Conference to receive the award.

General Review Criteria

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

1. Overall Impact

  • Reviewers will provide an overall impact score reflecting their assessment of the applicant’s potential to leverage this award into a successful and productive career in medical education. The score will also consider how the applicant’s background, unique qualities, and experiences will enhance diversity in the field of medical education.

2. Career Goals and Development Plan

  • Did the applicant adequately convey their desire to pursue a career in medical education?
  • Has the applicant identified the skills and experiences they need to pursue a career as a medical educator?
  • Did the applicant describe how completing this program will increase the pool of individuals with medical education expertise and enhance the capacity to support future pulmonary, critical care, and pulmonary critical care medical educators within the field and at their local institution?

3. Feasibility

  • Is the program’s commitment level suitable for the trainee’s engagement in the CHEST and APCCMPD Medical Educator Diversity Scholar Fellowship?
  • Is there sufficient assurance that the required effort of the trainee will be devoted directly to medical education training, career development, and related activities of the CHEST and APCCMPD Medical Educator Diversity Scholar Fellowship?

4. Approach

  • Completeness
  • Grammar
  • Writing

Applicants will be required to satisfactorily respond to any raised concerns in order to receive any funds, irrespective of the scoring done by the Awards Review Committee, noted above.

Applicants may be invited to discuss their application with the Awards Committee and should ensure they are available to participate between December 2 - 13, 2024, if invited.

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 proposals review, 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.
  • Applicants may be invited to discuss their application with the award committee and should ensure they are available to participate between December 2 - 13, 2024, if invited.

Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 

  • August 1 – November 1, 2024: Mentee Application Submission
  • November 1 - December 15, 2024: Mentee Identification
  • January 1, 2025: Mentee Award Notification
  • March 13, 2025: Presentation of Mentee Award

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  - December 31, 2025: Due January 31, 2026
    • February 1-March 31, 2026: Due April 30, 2026
    • May 1-June 30, 2026: 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]