FAQs: Home Institution Advisors / Faculty

Please submit additional questions to fic-fellowship@aamc.org

1. How many fellowship positions are available?
There will be approximately 25-30 fellowship opportunities available.

2. May my institution formally announce the fellowship program opportunity to its student body via our publications, listserves or scheduled meetings?
Absolutely. Please keep in mind that the program is designed primarily for advanced level medical students at U.S. medical schools, doctoral level students at schools of public health, doctoral level nursing and dental students with an interest in clinical research, and others at similar levels in health professional fields. Medical and osteopathic students must have completed their basic science courses and one year of clinical clerkship; public health doctoral students must have completed their coursework and passed their qualifying exams prior to the beginning of the fellowship.

3. I have a student in mind for whom the program would be ideal, and vice versa. What steps should I take?
First, please direct the student to the program's web site. The student will have to apply to be considered for the program and the application may be found on the site. In addition, to be considered complete, all applications must include a supporting reference letter from the dean for academic and/or student affairs at the student's home institutional institution and a letter from a faculty member who is willing to serve as a mentor to the student. A mentor, in this situation, is defined as the faculty member who will take responsibility for the applicant before, during and upon his/her return from the fellowship experience. If you are committed to fulfilling the mentor role for the student applicant you will need to write a supporting reference letter.

4. Once accepted into the program, will the student have other mentors?
Yes. Besides the student's home institution mentor that will have responsibilities both during the student's application process (in the manner of providing a supporting reference letter with the student's application) and and upon the student's return from abroad, each student fellow will be assigned a mentor from the foreign training site to which he/she is assigned. In addition, the student will be advised by a faculty member from the FIC training program which is partnered with the foreign site.

5. How does the fellowship program define an Eligible Training Site in a developing country?

Criteria for an eligible training site include:

• Ongoing clinical research activities supported by the U.S. Federal Government funding (implicit in this is compliance with the Required Federal Assurances, including data safety monitoring boards). The clinical research projects of the trainee / scholars will be restricted to those which are U.S. Federal Government funded and IRB/IEC approved.
• A strong track record of clinical research and research training, including graduate level training for both developing country students and visiting students.
• Support from one or more FIC training grants for research capacity building at the site.
• Strong mentoring capacity including an on-site research program director / administrator / mentor.
• Willingness to collaborate with a designated U.S. institution and the program steering committee in developing effective mentoring, monitoring, follow-up, and educational programs.
• The capacity to match the U.S. trainee / scholars with trainee / scholars from the developing country in order to foster peer level teaching / support and build a community of scholars.
• The ability to draw upon other educational and scientific strengths of the host institution and other facilities in the community in order to enhance the experience of the trainee / scholars.
• Suitable infrastructure arrangements for housing, food, and transportation.
• Attention to health and safety issues.
• Attention to language issues that impact on the ability of trainee/scholars to function effectively.

6. How does the fellowship program define "Clinical Research"?
The term "clinical research" means patient oriented clinical research conducted with human subjects, or research on the causes and consequences of disease in human populations involving material of human origin (such as tissue specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator or colleague directly interacts with human subjects in an outpatient or inpatient setting to clarify a problem in human pshyiology, pathophysiology or disease, or epidemiologic or behavioral studies, outcomes research or health services research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or clinical trials.