Fellows-in-Training Newsletter

Fall 2003

The VA is offering a national post-residency, two-year advanced geriatric fellowship at seven VA Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Centers (GRECCs). The Fellowship will support post-residency training in geriatrics for a select group of outstanding geriatricians and geriatric psychiatrics who have completed their Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) subspecialty training. This VA fellowship will provide outstanding geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry research training, interdisciplinary educational opportunities, and advanced clinical and program administration-learning opportunities.

Fellows will complete two years in a personalized and specially integrated curriculum spending at least 75 percent of their time in research, education, and career development. Fellows will carry out the majority of their research, educational and program development and administrative activities at the local VA facility and Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN). All fellows will attend an annual national geriatrics meeting.

Stipends will be based on years of previously completed Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited residency training and index rates approved at the respective VA facility and affiliated university. For more information, visit http://www.grecc-gla.org/sfpag/mission.htm or e-mail laural.opalinski@med.va.gov.

The Summer Institute on Aging Research offers new researchers intensive exposure to issues and challenges in research on aging. New researchers are defined as those who have received the M.D., Ph.D. or other doctoral level degree, are at the beginning stages of a research career, and demonstrate a capacity or potential for highly productive independent research. The doctoral degree may be in the biological, clinical, behavioral or social sciences.

The program of the Summer Institute includes lectures, seminars, and small group discussions in research design relative to aging, including issues especially relevant to aging of ethnic and racial minorities. Lectures will cover topics in research on aging, including: the biology of aging: genetics and Alzheimer's disease: and health, behavior and aging. Discussion sessions will focus on methodological approaches and interventions. The program will also include consultation on the development of research interests and advice on preparing and submitting research grant applications to the National Institute on Aging. For more information, visit http://www.nia.nih.gov/news/summer/

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announces the availability of educational loan repayment under the NIH Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers. The Program provides the repayment of the educational loan debt of qualified health professionals who agree to conduct clinical research. In exchange for a two-year commitment to your clinical research career, NIH will repay up to $35,000 per year of your qualified educational debt, pay an additional 39% of the repayments to cover your Federal taxes, and may reimburse state taxes that result from these payments. The purpose of the program is the recruitment and retention of highly qualified health professionals as clinical investigators. For more information, visit http://www.lrp.nih.gov/