Member Login
Search

ARS Diversity Fellowship Program

Objectives

The American Rhinologic Society (ARS) is committed to promoting and maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the society, and more broadly in the field of rhinology and otolaryngology. Furthermore, the ARS supports the development of rhinologic leaders who are from traditionally underrepresented in our field. Consequently, the ARS and its corporate partners have developed a DEI fellowship support mechanism to promote URM and women residents and fellows to become leaders in rhinology.

The goal of the fellowship is to foster interest in rhinology in URM and women residents, and to support URM and women fellows to become clinical, investigative, educational, and societal leaders. Our aims are to recruit URM and women residents to apply to rhinology fellowship, and to provide URM and women fellows with the resources, experience, and mentorship necessary for success. This program is a pipeline program that is committed to increasing diversity in rhinology.

Needs and Gaps

Otolaryngology is one of the least diverse fields in medicine, and consequently rhinology suffers from a similar and more pronounced lack of diversity. Currently, the membership of the ARS is composed in the following way:

  • 60% Caucasian/White
  • 22% Asian
  • 10% Other
  • 6% Hispanic
  • 2% African American/Black
  • 0% Native American/Pacific Islander
  • 76% Male
  • 24% Female

The DEI committee of the ARS has identified areas of intervention that might lead to an increase in diversity in our field.

  1. Support of fellowship applicants and matched fellows: To promote diversity in rhinology, the ARS must attempt to increase the number of URM and women residents that apply to rhinology fellowship, as well as support the URM and women residents that have already matched into rhinology. The ARS will provide funding to URM and women residents and fellows to achieve these goals.
  2. Support of fellowship programs: Fellowship programs that take on the responsibility of promoting under-represented leaders in rhinology must have the appropriate resources, leadership training, and mentorship models to maximize the professional development of URM and women fellows. At the moment, there is no formalized curriculum or process for programs to foster leadership development of URM and women residents. The ARS will provide programs with materials, mentorship, and support for these efforts.

Eligibility

Applicants to the DEI fellowship support program must have achieved an MD or MD-equivalent degree and graduated (or be in good standing for graduation) from an accredited training program in otolaryngology. Eligible programs must provide a written plan on how they will support the leadership development of the fellow. These are one-year awards, and the program starts on July 1st of the academic year and ends on June 30th of the same academic year.

Eligible candidates can apply to the DEI fellowship support program at two stages of their training:

  1. Pre-match stage: In order to increase the diversity in our field, we must establish a pipeline program that captures URM and women residents before they decide to apply to rhinology fellowship. As such, the ARS will promote its DEI fellowship support program directly to residency programs, as well as the American Academy of Otolaryngology. Interested URM and women residents will be paired with a mentor from the ARS DEI committee to review their CV and maximize the strength of their application. URM and women residents will be encouraged to apply to the fellowship support program, and if selected will be guaranteed one of the two awards if they match into rhinology fellowship.
  2. Post-match stage: If a URM or woman resident matches into fellowship without going through the pre-fellowship support process, they can still apply for one of the two awards with the support of their fellowship director.

Selection Process

Applicants requirements

  • Updated CV
  • Applicants in the pre-match stage will demonstrate a passion for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine. Prior experiences in DEI efforts or initiatives, or history of research and publication on DEI topics is desirable. If awarded in the pre-match stage, distribution of funds is contingent upon matching into an ARS endorsed fellowship.
  • Applicants in the post-match stage must either be in an ARS endorsed fellowship, or have matched into such a fellowship. Successful applicants will demonstrate a passion for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine. Prior experiences in DEI efforts or initiatives, or history of research and publication on DEI topics is desirable.
  • Personal statement describing career goals, eligibility for the award, and their vision for how to continue to promote diversity in rhinology.
  • Two professional and/or personal references who can speak to the applicant’s work and experience with diversity, equity and inclusion, as applicable. (They may be colleagues, supervisors, mentors, faculty members, etc.). One recommendation must be from a supervising clinical faculty.
  • Applications will be reviewed by a committee made up of three members of the DEI committee and three members of the Fellowship committee. This diversity fellowship review committee will evaluate the fellow’s application holistically, following the guidelines detailed in the selection process section.

Program requirements

  • While individual applicants apply for the ARS fellowship grant, the programs at which individuals match must demonstrate the ability to mentor and guide the diverse fellow. For a program to be eligible to receive the funds, they must submit in writing their plan to provide mentorship and professional development opportunities for the award recipient. The ARS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will provide support in the development of a mentorship plan to programs interested in hosting recipients who are unsure of how to develop such a plan. This plan must be submitted no less than 30 days prior to the start of the fellowship year.

Application timeline

  • Applicants in the pre-match stage must submit their applications no less than sixty days prior to the rank-list submission deadline. Earlier applications are encouraged so that applicants can communicate with programs their involvement in the ARS diversity fellowship program grant during fellowship interviews. Before the match rank lists are due, both the applicants and the programs will know which applicants and programs are part of the DEI fellowship support program. Once matched, programs must submit their written mentorship plan no less than 30 days prior the start of the fellowship year as noted above.
  • Applicants in the post-match stage must submit their application by February 15th. Programs must submit their written mentorship plan before the start of the fellowship year as noted above. Programs must submit their written mentorship plan no less than 30 days prior the start of the fellowship year as noted above.

Budget and Use of Funds

The ARS will provide two fifty-thousand-dollar awards to selected applicants. 60% of the funds can be used toward salary support of the fellow. The remaining 40% of the funds are to be used for the development of the fellow. These development funds can be used to fund research projects, support travel to conferences, or attend professional development or leadership courses. All funds will be distributed to the hospital, department, medical school, or institution that sponsors the fellowship program. Applicants that are selected in the pre-match stage will have funds distributed to the institution into which they will match. If pre-match applicants do not end up matching into a fellowship program the funds will be returned to the grantor and made available to other applicants in the postmatch stage, or the funds will be reserved for the following year if there are no additional applications. Applicants selected in the post-match stage will have funds distributed to the institution to which they have already matched.

ARS Diversity Fellowship Requirements

  1. The fellow should attend at least 1 ARS-sponsored conference during the fellowship.
  2. The fellow shall complete a minimum of 1 clinical or research project (resulting in a poster, oral presentation or manuscript) pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion or health disparities within the field of rhinology/skull base surgery.
  3. The fellow will be invited to participate in ARS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee meetings and are expected to attend.
  4. The fellowship award will be utilized in accordance with the “Budget and Use of Funds” section.

***Application cycle for 2024 is now complete. Check back later for details on the next cycle***