91ºÚÁÏÍø's Global Physician Scholar (GPS) Program provides opportunities for early/mid career physicians from outside the United States and Canada to gain expertise in a focused area relating to the prevention, diagnosis, and/or management of a clinical problem in internal medicine and the subspecialties.Â
The Global Physician Scholar Program is accepting candidates from April 1, 2024 through July 1, 2024.
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Program Goals
- Allow early and mid-career internal medicine physician members to participate in short-term experiences provided by senior faculty in academic medical institutions in the United States and Canada.
- Allow scholars to participate in 91ºÚÁÏÍø’s Internal Medicine Meeting (complimentary registration and expenses included in stipend) to benefit from education courses, professional development, and knowledge sharing. Â
- Enable scholars to acquire updated knowledge and skills to improve the delivery of care in their country.Â
Timeline
- April 1, 2024: Call for applications Â
- July 1, 2024: Application deadline Â
- October 2024: Applicants notified Â
- February, April or May 2025: Preferred period of experience
- April 3-5, 2025: Attendance at Internal Medicine Meeting 2025 in New Orleans, LouisianaÂ
What to Expect as a Global Physician Scholar
- Scholars will acquire knowledge, experience, and skills that they can apply, utilize, and disseminate to colleagues upon return to their home country.Â
- Faculty mentors at host sites will engage scholars in individual/group clinical and educational experiences and facilitate the design of an independent project to be implemented in each recipient’s country upon their return. No direct patient care will be offered.Â
- Permitted Activities: Attend educational sessions such as lectures, case conferences, workshops, and grand rounds. Observe educational activities taking place in the community, clinical, or research setting.
- Prohibited Activities: Scholars may not interact with patients individually. Scholars may not treat or examine patients in any way, write in/on charts or EHR, provide medical care, surgical care, or give medical advice to patients.Â
- Scholars will select one area of study in a particular area of competency they wish to acquire or improve on during their experience. Each scholar must complete a written report and design an independent project during the experience for implementation in their home country. Â
- Experiences should last about four weeks with the supervision of a mentor/host. Â
- Up to $8,000 will be awarded to each scholar. These funds are for travel and living expenses, as well as hotel accommodation at the 91ºÚÁÏÍø Internal Medicine Meeting. Advanced funding will be sent to each awardee shortly after they are selected. A final balance of the award will be paid upon receipt of the final report and documentation of all expenses.Â
- A final report is required to be submitted to 91ºÚÁÏÍø within one month of GPSÂ completion.Â
Note: For scholars requiring a visa to the United States or Canada, 91ºÚÁÏÍø can provide a supporting invitation letter for use in the visa application, but is unable to facilitate additional assistance with the visa application process.
2023-24 Scholars
- Sandra Amado Garzon, MD, MsC
- Eliezer Dade, MD
- Chamila Dalpatadu, MBBS, MD
- Ogochukwu Chinedum Okoye, MBBS, MD, FMCP, FW91ºÚÁÏÍø, FISN
- Sabin Thapaliya, MBBS, MD
Dr. Sandra Amado Garzon is an internal medicine and clinical epidemiology specialist. She is a faculty member at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia where she works as an academic hospitalist. As a clinical epidemiologist, Dr. Amado Garzon is actively involved in multiple research projects and firmly believes in the importance of therapeutic arts as a complement to chronic disease medical management. She is passionate about introducing art into active patient treatment and incorporating the approach in traditional medical education.
Dr. Amado Garzon was hosted by Dr. Archana Mishra at the University of Buffalo to gain experience in an established therapeutic art program, identify how to start a therapeutic art service in her hospital, and better understand how to integrate therapeutic artwork in medical education.
Dr. Eliezer Dade is a physician and educator in Haiti currently serving as the Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the Hopital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM). Dr. Dade, passionate about research, also has a keen interest in medical education, POCUS and curriculum development. As the local coordinator of the Global MedEd Network, a non-profit organization focused on remote medical education in low-income countries, he actively contributes to this mission. His research primarily concentrates on the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
His current GPS project focuses on improving adherence among heart failure patients. His participation in the GPS program aims to gain collaborative experience at Broward Health Medical Center with Dr Arnoux Blanchard, where he intends to learn communication approaches, investigative tests, personalized treatment plans, and educational programs dedicated to enhancing patient adherence.
Dr. Chamila Dalpatadu is a Consultant Physician in internal medicine and currently working as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. She was instrumental in establishing autonomic function testing, a gastrointestinal physiology laboratory, and the ambulatory care/aged care research center at the University of Colombo. Currently, Dr. Dalpatadu is conducting a randomised clinical trial on meditations’ impact on metabolism in healthy patients in comparison to those with type II diabetes.
Dr. Dalpatadu is focusing her GPS experience to improve the diagnosis and management of diabetes-related complications, such as autonomic dysfunction and gastrointestinal motility disorders, with Dr. Ricardo Correa at the Cleveland Clinic. Participating in the GPS program will provide opportunities to expand the clinical diagnostic services provided in Sri Lanka. She believes that through this prestigious opportunity, she can better serve her patients in Sri Lanka and contribute to the enhancement of scientific knowledge.   
Dr. Ogochukwu Chinedum Okoye works as a nephrologist and clinical lecturer at Delta State University (DELSU) and Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH) in Nigeria. She has risen through the ranks and is currently an Associate Professor with over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Her main research interest is the epidemiology of kidney diseases, especially the association of toxic environmental exposures with kidney disease. Dr Okoye is one of the Site Principal Investigators in the H3Africa Kidney Disease Network, an international multi-center research collaboration focused on studying environmental and genetic determinants of chronic kidney disease in Black Africans with the goal of improving knowledge of the disease epidemiology, the care of patients and ultimately improving lives.
As the lead nephrologist in her institution, her team successfully carried out their first two kidney transplantation in 2014. However, this service was not sustained due to local challenges. Dr Okoye aims to refresh her skills in the management of living donors and recipients of kidney transplantation and in the management of autoimmune disorders and vasculitis with renal manifestation at the University of Virginia with Dr. Rasheed Balogun.
Dr. Sabin Thapaliya is a Nepali infectious disease physician at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. He has been involved in developing national guidelines for post COVID-19 conditions, national antimicrobial treatment guidelines, infection prevention and control guidelines, and various other national infectious disease policies. Dr. Thapaliya’s main areas of interest are in tuberculosis, infections in immunosuppressed hosts, cost reduction in healthcare, and healthcare in resource-limited settings.
He plans to develop the management protocol for infections in transplant and oncology patients in his hospital with the guidance of Dr. Shmuel Shoham at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is confident he will be able to make significant changes in healthcare in transplant and oncology infections in his hospital and Nepal after this exposure to the state-of-the-art TOID program.
Additional Information
Eligibility
- Candidates must be able to obtain a visa within 30 days of experience.
- Candidates must be internal medicine physicians/subspecialists of internal medicine and must be 91ºÚÁÏÍø Members or Fellows in good standing. Residents and fellows-in-training in an 91ºÚÁÏÍø Chapter may be eligible.Â
- Candidates must reside primarily in a country outside of the U.S. and Canada.Â
- Candidates must be fluent in English, both written and verbal.Â
- Candidates must have consent from their local hospital or institution to take a leave of absence for one month, including attendance at the 91ºÚÁÏÍø Internal Medicine Meeting.Â
- Past Scholars may not apply.Â
- Recipients must obtain short-term health insurance coverage during their stay in the United States or Canada. The premium is considered an eligible expense under this program, subject to the maximum reimbursable amount.
Required Application Material
- Current curriculum vitae (CV). See a sample CV. Â
- Description of focus and proposed work plan during GPSÂ period and how the knowledge gained will be used back in the home country. Â
- Letter of recommendation from the Dean of the home country medical school or Chief of Medicine of the home country's affiliated hospital. Letter should focus on the strengths of the applicant, need in their home country, efficacy of the post-GPS independent project, and importance of selection as a GPS awardee. See tips on soliciting letters of recommendation.
- Letter of recommendation from the 91ºÚÁÏÍø Governor or an 91ºÚÁÏÍø Member, F91ºÚÁÏÍø, M91ºÚÁÏÍø from their country of residence. Letter should focus on the strengths of the applicant, need in their home country, efficacy of the post GPS independent project, and importance of selection.
- Letter of recommendation from a physician with whom the candidate has worked in their home country. Letter should focus on the strengths of the applicant, need in their home country, efficacy of the post-GPS independent project, and importance of selection.
* 91ºÚÁÏÍø encourages letters to be submitted in the letter writer’s primary language. 91ºÚÁÏÍø will engage translation services as required.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications undergo three rounds of review by 91ºÚÁÏÍø Staff and Global Engagement Committee Members based on the following criteria:
- Has the candidate sought out professional development opportunities?
- Has the candidate articulated their specific educational goals?
- Is the proposed topic of study relevant to the need in the candidate's home country?
- Has the applicant specified how the knowledge/training gained from GPS will benefit/improve the practice of Internal Medicine in their home country?
- Is the independent project feasible for implementation?
- Do the letters of recommendation speak to the need for improved Internal Medicine practice and delivery in their home country?
- Is it likely that the candidate will complete their goals in the four-week experience?
Host Information
Potential hosts can expect to:
- Provide a four-week schedule for their Scholar to expand their clinical knowledge (inclusive of, but not limited to, multiple department visits, instrumentation and technology utilization, grand rounds, scientific meetings, research, or practice conducted). No direct patient care may be offered.
- Effectively communicate to the Scholar their role and responsibilities of the program.
- Assure the Scholar adheres to the requirements of the program.
- Assist with the design of an independent project to be implemented in the Scholar’s country upon their return.
- Submit a report post-GPS to evaluate the program
- 2004 to 2023 GPS Hosts
Past GPS (Formerly IFEP) Awardees
For more information please contact Dana Acord, Program Coordinator at dacord@acponline.org.