APA Minority Fellowships Program Invites Applicants

Psychiatry residents are invited to apply for APA's Minority Fellowships Program (MFP). The MFP provides educational opportunities not only to minority residents, but to any resident interested in providing quality and effective service to minorities and the underserved. The program is also designed to involve residents in APA's work and to give APA the perspective of young psychiatrists.

The fellowships provide funds for psychiatry residents to experience a specialized educational program geared toward building leaders in psychiatry to improve the quality of mental health care for the following federally recognized ethnic minority groups: American Indians, Native Alaskans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and Hispanics/Latinos.

The MFP fellows are classified into three groups: APA/SAMHSA Fellows (funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), APA/SAMHSA Substance Abuse Fellows (funded by SAMHSA's Centers for Substance Abuse Treatment and Substance Abuse Prevention), and APA/AstraZeneca Fellows (funded by AstraZeneca).

SAMHSA and SAMHSA/Substance Abuse Fellows receive a stipend based on their postgraduate year and the availability of federal funds. AstraZeneca fellows do not receive stipends; however, travel funds are available for specific APA meetings and special projects. AstraZeneca fellows serve for two years.

Psychiatry residents must be at least in PGY-2 in July 2010 and remain in training during the entire academic year. Applicants must be APA members. SAMHSA applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents at the time of application. Federal employees are ineligible. AstraZeneca applicants do not have to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents or graduates of a U.S. medical school. SAMHSA Substance Abuse applicants must be in their PGY-5 in July 2010 and in a substance abuse training program approved by the affiliated medical school or agency in which a significant number of substance abuse patients are from minority and underserved groups.

All residents are welcome to apply regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.

The deadline for applications is January 30, 2010. Applications can be accessed at <www.psych.org/Resources/OMNA/MFP.aspx>. More information is available from Marilyn King at (703) 907-8653 or [email protected].