International Clinical Research Scholars Program

The 2011 Fogarty International Clinical research Scholars application is now available. Click here for more information

Would you like a unique chance to experience clinical research training in a developing country? Would you like to work with a strong team of mentors and colleagues on important problems that advance people's health?

The Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows (FICRS-F) Support Center at Vanderbilt is offering a one-year clinical research training experience for graduate-level U.S. students in the health professions. This is an opportunity for highly motivated individuals to experience mentored research training at top-ranked NIH-funded research centers in developing countries. 

The FICRS program is designed primarily for students meeting all of the following qualifications:

• A strong interest in, and potential for, a career in international health activities and/or clinical research.
• Advanced standing in a U.S. medical, osteopathic or dental school; or enrollment in a doctoral-level program at a U.S. school of public health, optometry, nursing, pharmacy, or veterinary medicine. Other Ph.D. students in the health sciences may be eligible on a case-by-case basis. Applicants must have strong academic records and must be U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents. Ph.D. candidates must have completed their Master's-level coursework. All other professional doctoral degree candidates must have completed their basic science courses and one year of clinical clerkship prior to the start of the fellowship year. 
• Support of their home academic institution, including a committed mentor.

Each Fellowship will be for a one year period. The term will begin with an intensive orientation program on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD in July. This will be followed by approximately 10+ months of intense research training at the international site.

The Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars Program cycle:

The call for applications is announced in mid-summer with a deadline in early December. A Review Committee reviews and ranks the applications and meets in mid-January to discuss and select the top ranking applicants. In early March, the top ranking applicants meet and interview with the program PIs. The applicants that are matched and the selected foreign scholars commence training in July with a 2 to 2 1/2 week intensive orientation (Click here for more information about Orientation) and training session at NIH followed by a mini-orientation session at their respective U.S. Institution before departing for their foreign sites for 10 months.

The FICRS Support Center was established at the Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health, and oversees overall program management, information dissemination and applicant selection, communications, program coordination and logistics, program monitoring and evaluation, organization of educational programs and conferences, and maintains relationships with program alumni. Outreach to numerous health-science fields is also conducted by the Association of Schools of Public Health. The FICRS Support Center and its programming is supported by the FIC and a number of National Institutes of Health.

To date: 160 U.S. Scholars and 155 foreign site Scholars

The FICRS-F Program is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center, in partnership with:

NIH Office of the Director
NIH National Cancer Institute
NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse
NIH National Institute of Mental Health
NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
NIH National Institute of Nursing Research
NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
NIH National Eye Institute
NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
NIH Office of AIDS Research
NIH Office of Research on Women's Health
NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research

This program is administered by Vanderbilt University, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Association of Schools of Public Health.

 

* 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 physiology, pathophysiology or disease, or epidemiologic or behavioral studies, outcomes research or health services research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or clinical trials.