The ASTRO Minority Summer Fellowship Award introduces medical students from backgrounds that are
under-represented in medicine to the discipline of radiation oncology early in their medical education. Medical students in all years are encouraged to apply;
preference will be given to first- and second-year students. In an effort to promote radiation oncology as a career choice, the fellowship will provide medical students with an experience designed to expose students to clinical, basic and translational research questions in radiation oncology.
Members of ASTRO’s Committee on Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CHEDI) are responsible for reviewing applications and selecting awardees. CHEDI members will be assigned as liaisons to communicate with each awardee on a continual basis to provide informal mentorship, receive updates, and keep the awardee connected to ASTRO. To ensure the long-term success and sustainability of this fellowship program, it is the expectation of CHEDI that awardees stay in touch with their assigned liaisons and provide continual updates regarding their training, residency, abstracts, publications, etc. This process will help CHEDI evaluate the fellowship and justify funding for the program to the ASTRO Board of Directors.
The following requirements must be met for a trainee to be considered for the grant:
- Applicant must be enrolled in a U.S. medical school and be in good standing at the time the application is submitted.
- Applicant must identify a mentor with a successful record of research productivity (more information is available in the application guidelines).
- The primary mentor (and co-mentor, if there is one) must be an ASTRO member.
- Research must be initiated at a North American institution during the summer of 2021 (applicants should discuss the impacts of COVID-19 with their mentor and ensure that the project can take place even under any related constraints at the host medical school).
- The selected institution must have an established research and clinical program and an ACGME-accredited radiation oncology residency program with clinical faculty available to serve as mentors.
- Letters of commitment from both the mentor and the department chair at the selected institution must accompany the application. The letter of commitment from the mentor should confirm that the institution is able to fund the project.
The ASTRO Minority Summer Fellowship Grant will offer four students a $5,000 package that includes a $3,000 stipend for the eight-week training program (exceptions can be made for a longer program but will need to be approved by CHEDI), $1,000 for the completion of a final report, and $1,000 toward the cost of attending the 2022 Annual Meeting.
May 2021
The awardee will receive a direct payment of $3,000 paid at the beginning of the fellowship upon receipt of a confirmation letter, project timeline and completed W-9 form (awardees will be given more detailed instructions in their notification letters). In the confirmation letter, the attendees will need to attest that the summer fellowship research project can take place during the summer break under the constraints of the ongoing pandemic at their host medical school. ASTRO does not pay indirect costs, overhead costs or salary support for the principal or co-principal investigator and has no responsibility for support beyond that stated in this application. This support is not for mentors.
January 2022
After CHEDI reviews and approves the awardee’s final report, the awardee will receive an additional $1,000. Final reports must be received by Friday, December 3, 2021 (more details are provided in the application guidelines). Awardees who submit reports later than the deadline (unless pre-approved by CHEDI) will not receive this additional $1,000.
The awardee must submit an abstract to the 2022 ASTRO Annual Meeting before the abstract submission site closes. Regardless of whether or not the abstract is accepted for presentation, the awardee is expected to attend the 2022 Annual Meeting; complimentary registration will be provided whether or not the abstract is accepted for presentation/inclusion. ASTRO does not cover the abstract submission fee; it is understood that the stipend will help offset that minor cost.
Fall 2022
An additional $1,000 will be granted to help offset travel expenses to and from the 2022 Annual Meeting. Specifically, the awardee will submit travel expenditures with a completed expense form and itemized receipts after attending the meeting and will be reimbursed for up to $1,000 (any additional costs are the responsibility of the awardee). ASTRO will waive the Annual Meeting registration fee for an awardee only if the awardee provides the name and control number of the abstract (s)he submitted, regardless of whether or not the abstract is actually accepted for presentation/inclusion.