Academic Career Fellowship
The Academic Career Fellowship is a 1-year fellowship program, with an optional second year, designed to prepare a physician for a successful career in academic medicine.
The guiding philosophy of the Academic Career Fellowship is to combine practical experience in patient care, teaching, scholarship, and service with exposure to the rich environment that the department, university and state provide in specific areas of clinical work, teaching and administrative activity. The curriculum is individually tailored to each fellow to address career goals.
Academic Development Heading link
Graduate program participation
Fellows spend 60% of their time in academic development. The Fellow will apply and be admitted to a graduate program. Previous fellows have pursued a Masters in Public Health, Masters in Health Professions Education, Masters in Business Administration, or other certificate programs offered at UIC. Tuition may be covered by standard employee tuition waiver program.
Scholarly project
The Fellow will also participate and prepare a scholarly project to be disseminated (i.e. presented at a regional or national conference in addition to participation on Scholarship Day in the department of Family Medicine, or submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal). If the fellow opts for a second year of fellowship, plans for further scholarly work will need to be discussed with program directors.
Choosing a focus area
The Fellow’s academic development is focused on development of excellence in a particular area such as a specific clinical focus: HIV/AIDS; Maternity Care; Global Health; Reproductive Health; Medical Student Education; or Health Disparities for example.
Teaching
The Fellow will also gain teaching experience in the Family Medicine Residency Program through Wednesday didactics. They will also work with both pre-clinical medical students as well as medical students on their Family Medicine clerkship. Inpatient and maternity care services are optional but highly encouraged.
Clinical Care Heading link
While 60% of the Fellow’s time is spent in academic development, the remaining time (40%) is spent in clinical care. This will amount to 4 half days per week. Clinical care is conducted in one of the Family Medicine clinical experiences- University Village or Mile Square Health Center.
As schedules allow, the Fellow may also precept residents in clinic.
Other Key Features Heading link
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Professional development
Each Fellow meets regularly with the Program Directors to discuss career goals, and professional development strategies. Each Fellow will also be assigned a faculty mentor, who will meet regularly with the Fellow to assess professional development and provide support to the fellow.es.
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Evaluation
Fellows will be evaluated by faculty on their individualized goals. Fellows will make appropriate progress on a graduate or certificate program.
Fellows will be evaluated by students and residents during clinical sessions and didactics. Some of these sessions will also be observed by faculty. Fellows will also receive evaluation by Fellowship faculty according to ACGME Core Competencies.
Application Information Heading link
Reach out to Dr. Julie Loza or Dr. Adrienne A. Williams with any questions or concerns.
Applicants should possess the following
- Teaching interest
- Leadership – demonstrates ability to implement and follow through plans, leads team collaboratively and is respectful and inclusive
- Application for Full Unrestricted IL Medical License by March 1 of fellowship year
- Demonstration of scholarly activities, such as:
- QI projects
- Scholarship day
- Publications
- ABFM passage or eligible by July 31st
Complete applications include the following
- A 1-2 page proposal that includes:
- Area of clinical/academic focus
- Statement of interest (max 1000 words) – why UIC, why this fellowship, how you plan to use this training
- Topic of interest for scholarly project
- Two letters of recommendation that speak to teaching skills and/or summary of evaluations of teaching, leadership activities/potential scholarship and clinical competency (e.g. Residents can handle normal clinic volumes for training level, documentation in compliance with medical center expectations).
- CV
You must also apply to a graduate program in time for the Fall deadline.
Where to send the application materials
Applications should be submitted via email to Drs. Williams and Loza. Application, supporting Materials and letters of Recommendation are due February 1st of fellowship year.
