Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars program?

Is there a difference between the RWJ-funded and VA-sponsored positions?

Who is eligible to apply?

I have a VA HSR&D Career Development Award. Am I eligible to apply for the program?

Do I need to be a U.S. citizen to apply?

How do you define a junior faculty member?

Do potential scholars need to be junior faculty for four years or less at the time the appointment begins or at the time of application?

Is the selected candidate from an institution required to be a tenure tracked faculty member or can they just hold a non-tenure track appointment?

Who selects the Physician Faculty Scholars?

What are the selection criteria?

Will preference be given to any applicants?

What is the timetable for applications and appointments?

How do I get an application packet?

Are online applications accepted?

In the application instructions, page limits are listed for each section. The instructions also state there are limits for each subsection within the research proposal. Are these limits flexible?

Can an applicant get feedback on the application?

How many Physician Faculty Scholars are selected each year?

How much support is provided to each Physician Faculty Scholar?

Are past recipients of RWJF’s Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars program eligible to apply?

Are past recipients of other RWJF fellowship programs eligible to apply?

Can someone who has a NIH K or other career development award also apply for the RWJF Physician Faculty Scholars Award program?

How many faculty members can an institution nominate each year?

Is there a limit to how many recipients from one institution can be in the program at a time?

The description states that a school may have up to two physicians in the program provided they are each in different disciplines. By disciplines, do you mean clinical disciplines? And are you defining discipline at the specialty (medicine vs. surgery) or subspecialty level (general internal medicine vs. pulmonary medicine)?

Regarding the requirement that a scholar must have two published articles in peer-reviewed journals, must the scholar be the first author? Does any category of article count?

A budget is required as part of the application for RWJF Physician Faculty Scholars appointments. Are there sample budgets available for review?

Are there restrictions on use of grants funds?

Does the program support scholars doing International research?

I have a VA career development award.  Which application do I complete?


What is the purpose of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars program?

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars program is designed to strengthen the leadership and academic productivity of junior medical school faculty who are dedicated to improving health and health care, and to help these young physicians develop their careers in academic medicine.

Under the program, scholars receive:

• funds to support a research project;
• at least 50 percent protected time for three years to do their research;
• active mentorship by nationally recognized leaders; and 
• the opportunity to work with other talented scholars.

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Is there a difference between the RWJ-funded and VA-sponsored positions?
All Scholars will experience the same program, including having assigned national advisors and mentors, attending the national meeting each year, and the opportunity to get to know and grow with fellow RWJF PFSP scholars. The only differences relate to the source of funding and the amount of protected time (75% for VA and 50% for RWJ).

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Who is eligible to apply for the RWJ Physician Faculty Scholar (PFS) positions?

Applicants must be nominated by the dean of a four-year, fully LCME-accredited United States medical school (allopathic or osteopathic).

In order to be eligible for Robert Wood Johnson Physician Faculty Scholars program, applicants must meet the following requirements:

•	be a physician (M.D. or D.O.) who is a citizen or a permanent resident of the United States or its territories;
•	be a junior faculty member (instructor or assistant professor) for four years or less at the time the award begins (July 1, 2009) in any discipline in a regular line position that could lead to tenure;
•	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;
•	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 29, 2008).

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 who are in doubt about whether their research falls within the program’s guidelines should contact the National Program Office.

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I have a VA HSR&D Career Development Award. Am I eligible to apply for the program?

Physicians (M.D. or D.O.) who are in the first year of a five-year Career Development Award funded by the VA Health Services Research and Development Service are eligible to apply.

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Do I need to be a U.S. citizen to apply?

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. If you hold permanent resident status, you must attach a copy of your Green Card to the application.

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How do you define a junior faculty member?

For the purposes of our program, these are people at the instructor or assistant professor level. In general they have been in a faculty position for four years or less at the time the PFSP award would begin (July 1, 2009). In addition, physicians who have guaranteed positions, in writing by the Dean, that will start at the time of the program are considered junior faculty.

We make exceptions for people who have been in faculty positions for longer periods of time when they are clearly trying to change career directions from one that was not oriented to research to one that is. Examples of such exceptions are people who have been clinical educators or clinical administrators who have decided to pursue research in addition to other clinical activities. Their institution must be committed to such a career change and must show evidence of commitment such as willingness to switch them to a tenure track, support for special research training, strong mentorship, and protected time for research.

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Do potential scholars need to be junior faculty for four years or less at the time the appointment begins or at the time of application?

Scholars must be a junior faculty member for four years or less at the time the appointment begins, July 1, 2009.

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Is the selected candidate from an institution required to be a tenure tracked faculty member or can they just hold a non-tenure track appointment?

Applicants should have clear expectations that they will be on a tenure track at some point, but not necessarily at the time of application. If they are not currently on a tenure track, there should be some indication as to why and what long-term prospects are. Dean and/or chair letters should be the appropriate place for such information. Some institutions have complex track arrangements, but the intent of the Physician Faculty Scholars Program is that candidates are competitive for long term faculty status, however that translates at the applicant institution.

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Who selects the Physician Faculty Scholars?

All applications are reviewed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars National Advisory Committee. After initial review, up to 35 applicants are chosen for interview of whom up to 20 are selected to be Scholars. The selection process is the same for both RWJF Physician Faculty Scholars and VA Faculty Scholars.

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What are the 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:

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Will preference be given to any applicants?

The program strongly prefers applicants interested in the fields of health policy research, epidemiology, health services research or community-based research. The program will enable these committed physicians to engage in research which will inform change in health policy and health care.

Physician-scientists who conduct 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.

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

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What is the timetable for applications and appointments?

The application process begins approximately 12 months before candidates seek entrance into the program. Appointments are effective July 1 each year.

The following dates are important in completing your application.

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How do I get an application packet?

Physicians who meet the eligibility requirements may download the appropriate application forms and instructions from the National Program Office web site in Spring 2008, or contact the National Program Office at (650) 566-2348 or rwjfpfsp@stanford.edu

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Are online applications accepted?

At this time the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars program accepts paper applications only.

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In the application instructions, page limits are listed for each section. The instructions also state there are limits for each subsection within the research proposal. Are these limits flexible?

No. Applicants must adhere to the format guidelines. Applications that exceed the limits will be returned.

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Can an applicant get feedback on the application?

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation does not provide individual critiques of applications submitted or of presentations of those selected to be interviewed.

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How many Physician Faculty Scholars are selected each year?

The National Advisory Committee will select up to 20 physician faculty scholars each year of whom 15 will be funded by RWJF and 5, by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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How much support is provided to each Physician Faculty Scholar?

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will make awards of up to $300,000 for the three-year period, for each of the 15 recipients. The awards will be made as grants to sponsoring institutions to help cover the scholar’s salary and research costs. The VA Faculty Scholars will receive funding as part of their Career Development Award. 

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Are past recipients of RWJF’s Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars program eligible to apply?

Past recipients of the Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars program are not eligible to apply for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Physician Faculty Scholars program.

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Are past recipients of other RWJF fellowship programs eligible to apply?

Yes, physicians who are recipients of previous Foundation funding, including other fellowship programs, are eligible to apply. However, they are not permitted to apply/ participate in both the PFSP program and another RJWF program at the same time.  Program participation can be sequential, but not simultaneous.

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Can someone who has a NIH K or other career development award also apply for the RWJF Physician Faculty Scholars Award program?

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 29, 2008).

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How many faculty members can an institution nominate each year?

Each medical school dean may nominate one junior faculty member per year. The faculty member can be in any discipline.

In addition, an institution may have only two scholars in the program at one time, provided they are each in different disciplines.

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Is there a limit to how many recipients from one institution can be in the program at a time?

Schools may have up to two physicians in the program at any one time, provided they are each in different disciplines. 

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The description states that a school may have up to two physicians in the program provided they are each in different disciplines. By disciplines, do you mean clinical disciplines? And are you defining discipline at the specialty (medicine vs. surgery) or subspecialty level (general internal medicine vs. pulmonary medicine)?

Yes, we mean clinical discipline, defined at the specialty level. (i.e. medicine vs. surgery)

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Regarding the requirement that a scholar must have two published articles in peer-reviewed journals, must the scholar be the first author? Does any category of article count?

Any category of article counts, as long as it was published in a peer reviewed journal. And yes, it is preferred the scholar be one of the primary authors, if not the first author.

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A budget is required as part of the application for RWJF Physician Faculty Scholars appointments. Are there sample budgets available for review?

The budget guidelines include an appendix with a sample line item budget for possible categories in a specific project. Budgets should be prepared to reflect actual expenses projected for the applicant's project.

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Are there restrictions on use of grants funds?

Grant funds may be used for a portion of the scholar’s salary, research assistants, community partners, medical student or other trainee summer stipends, project-related domestic travel, and other essential direct project expenses. Grants are made to the sponsoring institutions, and follow the Foundation’s regular funding guidelines. In keeping with RWJF policy, grant funds may not be used to subsidize individuals for the costs of their health care, to support clinical trials of unapproved drugs or devices, to construct or renovate facilities, for lobbying, or as a substitute for funds currently being used to support similar activities.

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Does the program support scholars doing International research?

Funding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation cannot be used to support research done internationally.

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I have a VA career development award.  Which application do I complete?

If eligible to apply to the Physician Faculty Scholars Program, you should complete the VA Faculty Scholar application.  The instructions for the VA application can be found here (include link). Selection criteria are the same for all applicants.