ACP's Global Physician Scholar (GPS) Program provides opportunities for early*/mid-career physicians from outside the United States and Canada to gain expertise in a focused area relating to the prevention, diagnosis, and/or management of a clinical problem in internal medicine and the subspecialties.
*ACP defines an Early Career Physician as a physician Fellow or Member of ACP who is within sixteen years of graduating medical school, who is not a Student Member, transitional Medical Graduate, or Resident/Fellow Member of ACP.
Post-graduate trainees, in their final year of training before obtaining a medical license for independent practice, are eligible for the Global Physician Scholar Program.
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The Global Physician Scholar Program is accepting candidates from March 31, 2025 to June 17, 2025.
Program Goals
- Allow early and mid-career internal medicine physician members to participate in short-term experiences provided by senior faculty in academic medical institutions in the United States and Canada.
- Allow scholars to participate in ACP’s Internal Medicine Meeting (complimentary registration and expenses included in stipend) to benefit from education courses, professional development, and knowledge sharing.
- Enable scholars to acquire updated knowledge and skills to improve the delivery of care in their country through an independent project to be completed post-programming.
Timeline
- March 31, 2025: Call for applications
- June 17, 2025: Application deadline
- October 2025: Applicants notified
- February, April or May 2026: Suggested period of experience
- April 16 - 18, 2026: Attendance at Internal Medicine Meeting 2026 in San Fransisco, California
What to Expect as a Global Physician Scholar
- Scholars will acquire knowledge, experience, and skills that they can apply, utilize, and disseminate to colleagues upon return to their home country.
- Faculty mentors at host sites will engage scholars in individual/group clinical and educational experiences and facilitate the design of an independent project to be implemented in each recipient’s country upon their return. No direct patient care will be offered.
- Permitted Activities: Attend educational sessions such as lectures, case conferences, workshops, and grand rounds. Observe educational activities taking place in the community, clinical, or research setting.
- Prohibited Activities: Scholars may not interact with patients individually. Scholars may not treat or examine patients in any way, write in/on charts or EHR, provide medical care, surgical care, or give medical advice to patients.
- Scholars will select one area of study in a particular area of competency they wish to acquire or improve on during their experience. Each scholar must complete a written report and design an independent project during the experience for implementation in their home country.
- Experiences should last about four weeks with the supervision of a mentor/host.
- Up to $8,000 will be awarded to each scholar. These funds are for travel and living expenses, as well as hotel accommodation at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting. Advanced funding will be sent to each awardee shortly after they are selected. A final balance of the award will be paid upon receipt of the final report and documentation of all expenses.
- A final report is required to be submitted to ACP within one month of GPS completion.
Note: For scholars requiring a visa to the United States or Canada, ACP can provide a supporting invitation letter for use in the visa application, but is unable to facilitate additional assistance with the visa application process.
2024-25 Scholars
- Noora Alhajri, MBBCh, BAO, MD
- Elizabeth Tomilola Emmanuel, MBBS
- Chamila Mettananda, MBBS, MD, PhD, MRCP, FRCP, FRCPE, FACP
- Tetsuhiro Yoshino, MD, FACP
Host: Amanda Vest, MBBS, MPH at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
Dr. Noora Alhajri is a physician scientist who earned her MBBCh BAO from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and earned a master's degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from George Washington University, D.C., USA. She completed postdoctoral research fellowships at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, MD, and at the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Aging (NIH/ NIA), Baltimore, MD, studying the age associated changes that occur within the cardiovascular system.
Dr. Alhajri has also served as a lecturer in medicine and epidemiology at Khalifa University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where she taught various courses in medicine and research. Currently, she is pursuing internal medicine residency at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, with a keen interest in the applications of AI in medicine and improving patient outcomes in heart failure and mechanical circulatory support. Dr. Alhajri will complete her GPS project at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Ohio, to develop a remote monitoring protocol for HF patients to reduce HF readmission rate and the associated healthcare costs.
Host: Marielle Scherrer-Crosbie, MD, PhD, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dr. Elizabeth Tomilola Emmanuel is an early career consultant cardiologist at the National Hospital, Abuja where she offers clinical duties and training of resident doctors. She is a fellow of the International Society of Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention and has interest in echocardiography, preventive cardiology, implementation science, and cardiac disease in women.
Dr. Emmanuel is currently working as a site collaborator in an NIH-funded project on hypertensive diseases in pregnancy and the use of single-pill combination antihypertensives in people living with HIV. Her GPS project will focus on using advanced echocardiographic modalities to monitor and detect cardiotoxicity in breast cancer patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. This will contribute to developing local protocols for the management of this group of patients.
Host: Pankaj Shah, MD at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
Dr. Chamila Mettananda is a compassionate clinician, researcher, and academic attached to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. She has been actively involved in non-communicable diseases (NCD) clinical and research activities in Sri Lanka and contributed to NCD guideline development in the country. Currently, she is conducting a study to predict significant fibrosis in patients with diabetes and fatty liver using machine learning.
Dr. Mettananda is focusing her GPS experience on developing a machine learning-based model specific for Sri Lankans with Dr. Pankaj Shah at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA. She believes that through this prestigious opportunity, she could improve early diagnosis of significant liver fibrosis and implementation of liver-directed therapy in patients with diabetes and fatty liver to reduce the liver-related burden of fatty liver in Sri Lanka and enhance scientific knowledge.
Host: Gregory Plotnikoff, MD, MTS, FACP at Minnesota Personalized Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dr. Tetsuhiro Yoshino, a clinician-researcher from Keio University in Japan, specializes in integrative internal medicine with an emphasis on Kampo, Japan’s traditional medicine. Through treating chronic illnesses, particularly those with medically unexplained symptoms, he has recognized the value of combining modern and traditional practices to enhance patient outcomes.
Dr. Yoshino will observe Dr. Gregory A. Plotnikoff’s Personalized Medicine Clinic in Minnesota, focusing on integrative care approaches. This experience will allow him to expand his knowledge beyond Kampo and gain practical insight into diverse therapeutic methods. Upon his return to Japan, Dr. Yoshino aims to integrate these techniques into his practice, benefiting marginalized patient groups, and he also looks forward to sharing these insights with his colleagues.
Additional Information
Eligibility
- Candidates must be able to obtain a visa within 30 days of experience.
- Candidates must be internal medicine physicians/subspecialists of internal medicine and must be ACP Members or Fellows in good standing. Post-graduate trainees, in their final year of training before obtaining a medical license for independent practice, are eligible for the Global Physician Scholar Program.
- Candidates must reside primarily in a country outside of the U.S. and Canada.
- Candidates must be fluent in English, both written and verbal.
- Candidates must have consent from their local hospital or institution to take a leave of absence for one month, including attendance at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.
- Past Scholars may not apply.
- Recipients must obtain short-term health insurance coverage during their stay in the United States or Canada. The premium is considered an eligible expense under this program, subject to the maximum reimbursable amount.
Required Application Material
- Current curriculum vitae (CV). See a sample CV.
- Description of focus and proposed work plan during GPS period and how the knowledge gained will be used back in the home country.
- Letter of recommendation from the Dean of Medical School/Chief Resident of Medicine/Program Director. Letter should focus on the strengths of the applicant, need in their home country, efficacy of the post-GPS independent project, and importance of selection as a GPS awardee. See tips on soliciting letters of recommendation.
- Letter of recommendation from the ACP Governor or an ACP Member, FACP, MACP from their country of residence. Letter should focus on the strengths of the applicant, need in their home country, efficacy of the post GPS independent project, and importance of selection.
- Letter of recommendation from a physician with whom the candidate has worked in their home country. Letter should focus on the strengths of the applicant, need in their home country, efficacy of the post-GPS independent project, and importance of selection.
* ACP encourages letters to be submitted in the letter writer’s primary language. ACP will engage translation services as required.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications undergo three rounds of review by ACP Staff and Global Engagement Committee Members based on the following criteria:
- Has the candidate sought out professional development opportunities?
- Has the candidate articulated their specific educational goals?
- Is the proposed topic of study relevant to the need in the candidate's home country?
- Has the applicant specified how the knowledge/training gained from GPS will benefit/improve the practice of Internal Medicine in their home country?
- Is the independent project feasible for implementation?
- Do the letters of recommendation speak to the need for improved Internal Medicine practice and delivery in their home country?
- Is it likely that the candidate will complete their goals in the four-week experience?
Host Information
Potential hosts can expect to:
- Provide a four-week schedule for their Scholar to expand their clinical knowledge (inclusive of, but not limited to, multiple department visits, instrumentation and technology utilization, grand rounds, scientific meetings, research, or practice conducted). No direct patient care may be offered.
- Effectively communicate to the Scholar their role and responsibilities of the program.
- Assure the Scholar adheres to the requirements of the program.
- Assist with the design of an independent project to be implemented in the Scholar’s country upon their return.
- Submit a report post-GPS to evaluate the program
- 2004 to 2023 GPS Hosts
Past GPS (Formerly IFEP) Awardees
For more information please contact Dana Acord, Program Coordinator at dacord@acponline.org.