Becoming a VA Faculty Scholar

Physician Faculty Scholars is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is reviewing new expenditures due to the economic downturn. Pending completion of that review, the Physician Faculty Scholars program is delaying its call for proposals. Please check this website again in August for further information.

General Information
Eligibility Criteria
Selection Criteria
Evaluation and Monitoring
How to Apply

General Information

Up to 5 physicians (M.D. or D.O.) will be selected as Veterans Affairs (VA) Faculty Scholars in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars Program. The three-year awards will start in 2010.

Under the Physician Faculty Scholars program, talented junior faculty, who are nominated by their VA medical center and selected by the program, will receive support to enhance their skills and productivity through institutional and national mentoring, specific research experience and protected time in which to acquire it. The program strongly prefers applicants interested in the fields of health policy research, epidemiology, health services research or community-based research. Physician-scientists who conduct basic biomedical research should not apply.

Applicants must be first-year VA Career Development awardees, funded by the VA Health Services Research and Development Service. In addition, they must be nominated for the program by the Health Services Research and Development Service staff, the VA medical center director, and the dean of the VA-affiliated four-year, fully accredited United States medical schools (allopathic or osteopathic). The VA Faculty Scholars will participate in the Physician Faculty Scholars program period for 3 years out of their five-year Career Development Award period. Information on the VA Health Services Research and Development Service Career Development Award program is available at http://www.research.va.gov/funding/CDP.cfm.

In selecting scholars for this program, we seek faculty members who have the potential to assume leadership roles in their institutions, their fields of scholarly activity, and their disciplines. The elements that are key to achieving such leadership roles include:

•	the creativity to engage in new areas of research;
•	an appropriate knowledge of the skills and methods to carry out research in the applicant’s chosen field of endeavor;
•	a mentor or small cadre of mentors who can advise the applicant in career development and research; and
•	the support of the applicant’s institutional leadership, including the VA Medical Center Director, Departmental Chair, and choice of VA or overall Division Chief, that enables the candidate to engage in research for at least 75 percent of full-time effort.

VA Faculty scholars will receive financial support through their VS HSR&D Career Development Award. Each sponsoring institution must agree to protect at least 75 percent of the scholar’s time from clinical and teaching responsibilities to spend on the scholarly activities outlined in the scholar’s proposal. Each institution must identify at least one mentor who will advise the scholar on his or her research project, provide career development guidance, and attend one annual national meeting with the scholar.

Additionally, scholars will interact with the medical leaders who serve on the program’s National Advisory Committee (NAC). The program will assign to each scholar a NAC mentor, who will discuss project management and career development with him or her at the program’s annual meeting and throughout the year. NAC mentors may also offer other assistance, such as reviewing and critiquing manuscripts and grant proposals and writing letters of recommendation.

All scholars are expected to attend each annual meeting, where they will present their ongoing research and take part in a broad array of discussions relevant to the program’s focus. They must also attend one additional scientific meeting of their choosing annually.

Eligibility Criteria

Each candidate must:

•	be a physician (M.D. or D.O.) who is in the first year of a five-year Career Development Award funded by Health Services Research and Development Service;
•	be a junior faculty member in any discipline in a regular line position that could lead to tenure. Junior faculty are defined as those who are the instructor or assistant professor level and have held a faculty position for five years or less at the time the PFSP award begins (July 1, 2010);
•	be committed to a career in academic medicine;
•	provide evidence of research skills (e.g., past research fellowship or equivalent training);
•	have published at least two papers in peer-reviewed journals at the time of the VA Faculty Scholars application deadline (August 28, 2009);
•	demonstrate excellence as a teacher; and
•	care for patients at least one half-day per week.

As the program is focused on new researchers, a physician is ineligible for the Physician Faculty Scholars program if he or she is currently serving or has previously served as the principal investigator of a grant (whether career development or research) that carries more than 48 months of funding. However, an applicant’s eligibility is not affected if notice of such a funding award is dated after the program’s application deadline (August 28, 2009).

The program strongly prefers applicants interested in the fields of health policy research, epidemiology, health services research or community-based research.

Physician-scientists who do basic biomedical research should not apply. Applicants who are in doubt about whether their research falls within the program's guidelines should contact the National Program Office, at (650) 566-2348 or rwjfpfsp@stanford.edu.

Consistent with all RWJF programs, this program embraces racial, ethnic, gender and disciplinary diversity and encourages candidates with diverse backgrounds to apply.

Selection Criteria

The NAC reviews applications and invites selected applicants to present their research proposals to the committee. The committee uses the following criteria to guide the selection process:

•	Evidence that the candidate is committed to an academic career and is well prepared to conduct research.
•	The research proposal is creative, of high quality and feasible.
•	The applicant’s research is in the fields of health policy, epidemiology, health services or community-based research.
•	Availability of qualified research mentors and research resources at the candidate's institution.
•	Evidence that the candidate is an excellent clinical teacher.
•	Evidence that the nominating institution and its senior leadership are committed to supporting the candidate's academic career.

Evaluation and Monitoring

VA Faculty Scholars will be expected to submit annual narrative reports to the National Program Office, as well as periodic information needed for overall project performance monitoring and management. We expect faculty scholars to participate in all the program’s annual meetings. At the close of the grant, the scholar shall provide a written report of the research project and its findings that can be widely disseminated.

How to Apply

Physician Faculty Scholars is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is reviewing new expenditures due to the economic downturn. Pending completion of that review, the Physician Faculty Scholars program is delaying its call for proposals. Please check this website again in August for further information.