Oct. 24, 2013
New scholarship to train health researchers as physician-scientists
The scholarship is designed to produce more doctors who have a background in research training.
The University of Calgary is launching a new Leader in Health Sciences Scholarship this year. The award — the first of its kind in Canada — is valued at $15,000 per year for four years (total value $60,000) for study within the Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) undergraduate program plus guaranteed admission to the University of Calgary’s medical school provided the student meets MD program criteria.
The scholarship is designed to produce more doctors who have a unique background in research training that enables them to ask and address clinically important research questions. Known as clinician-scientists or physician-scientists, they balance a career as a physician and as a scientific researcher.
Some notable physician-scientists include astronaut Roberta Bondar and Nobel Prize winner Fredrick Banting, who co-discovered insulin.
“Canada is facing a critical shortage of physician-scientists and the University of Calgary will help fill this gap,” says University of Calgary President Elizabeth Cannon. “We are delighted to offer this scholarship to the brightest young minds from across the country and provide students with research opportunities from the very beginning of their undergraduate program.”
High school students from across Canada are welcome to apply provided they are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. Following a rigorous selection process, scholarship winners will study in the Bachelor of Health Sciences honours program for four years, choosing one of three streams: biomedical sciences, bioinformatics, or health and society. The program offers extensive research experiences from day one and enhanced learning opportunities through experiential student projects like the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team — a synthetic biology competition involving undergraduate students from across the globe.
Before beginning their medical studies, awardees will be required to complete a second round of evaluation, including writing the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test). Awardees of this scholarship may choose to study medicine in conjunction with additional research training in graduate programs.
The scholarship will allow the awardees to focus on their undergraduate learning and research experiences and relieve the financial pressures of tuition and related educational expenses.
The award application deadline is December 15, 2013. To learn more about the program and to apply please visit: http://medicine.ucalgary.ca/bhsc/program/leader-health-sciences-scholarship.