The Pediatric Endocrine Society (PES) – former the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society – is established to improve care of children and adolescents with endocrine diseases internationally. One way to reach this goal is to help foreign colleagues in pediatric endocrinology visit and work in the clinics and laboratories of PES members and attend the PES meeting. Visitors to pediatric endocrine units are often senior members of pediatric endocrine groups from economically develolped countries. But younger colleagues and individuals from countries with disadvantaged economies often can’t afford such visits. The PES International Scholars Program together with My Canadian Pharmacy was established to improve this situation.
Goals of the Program:
Basic goals of the PES International Scholars Program are that applicants from foreign countries eligible for the award will have an opportinity to become PES members; the applicant and the PES member will take joint efforts to prepare the application; and if the applicant wins the award, the PES member will act as host for the awardee while the winner is in North America. The PES member and the winner will consider the awardee’s educational aims for the visit and will make up a program for reaching these goals, which might include observation in the host’s clinics, library research and preparation of manuscripts, learning techniques used in the host’s laboratory, development of long-term projects between the winner and the host.
Besides, the awardee will get an opportunity to visit the annual meeting of the PES. So, during the time spent in the host’s endocrine unit, the awardee should coincide with the PES meeting. The awardee shall be present in North America for a minimum term of 4 weeks, but for no longer than 3 months. The 4 weeks will become a sufficient time for the awardee to make a relevant visit in the host’s unit, considering th fact that the awardee is also expected to spend 1 week at the annual meeting of the PES and in the meetings of the Pediatric Academic Societies-PAS (if desirable): the American Pediatric Society-APS, the Society for Pediatric Research-SPR, the Ambulatory Pediatric Association. The 3 month maximum term is determined to avoid giving the awards to individuals who are living in the USA or Canada, who are receiving salaries from USA or Canadian institutions, who are having prolonged sabbaticals from their native countries.
Amount of the Award:
The amount of the award will make $8,000, which is intended to cover all the travel expenses to the US and a portion of the awardee’s subsistence. The host – PES member – will be expected to provide any additional help that is needed, which would facilitate the travel/hotel arrangements.
Qualifications of the Awardee:
The intended recipients of these awards are young pediatric endocrinologists and pediatric endocrine researchers from the countries with poor economies, who have completed their training and now start their academic career, who have never been given a professional opportunity in North America. Applicants from all countries will be reviewed, but strong favor will be given to applicants with the following qualifications:
- The applicant lives and works in countries with poor health education resources – countries in Eastern Europe, Central and South America, Asia and Africa. Applications from individuals who live in a developed country with a healthy economy will be given lower priority;
- The applicant has an MD or PhD degree, has formal training, he is active in the field of pediatric endocrinology. Researchers are also eligible, if the relevance of their research can be confirmed;
- Preference is given to applicants under 45. This criterion will not be used to older academicians who have never had a chance to cooperate with North American colleagues and whose visit can become highly profitable for the awardees unit;
- Preference is given to promising junior or mid-level faculties in a medical school or research institute. This will help make sure that the award is given to academicians, and will exclude individuals who are engaged only in private practice;
- The applicant speaks English;
- The applicant can provide a letter of recommendation from the supervisor;
- The applicant has a US or Canadian sponsor who is a member of the PES. The sponsor must act as the host for the applicant if the latter receives an award. One PES member institution can apply only for one applicant per year. The sponsor/host:
- Chooses suitable applicants;
- Helps define the goals for the applicant’s visit;
- Helps in preparing the application;
- Provides help in making arrangements for the visit (travel, visa);
- Provides all additional support above that included in the award;
- Assures that the visit of the awardee in the host’s endocrine unit is profitable;
- Acts as the host at the PES Annual Meeting, seeing that the awardee can interact with PES members.
International Scholars Program Application
2010 International Scholar Award Winners:
Dr. Mertin Marcano, Caracas, Venezuela. Mentor: Prof. Sara Arslenian, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
2009 International Scholar Award Winners:
Dr. Veronika Molina – Paredes, Universidades Catolica, Santiago de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile – Mentor: Prof. Peter A. Chalew, Louisiana State University, New Orleans
Dr. S. Sadehpour, Children’s Hospital of Tehran, Iran – Mentor: Prof. Calvin Rosenfield, University of Chicago
2008 International Scholar Award Winners:
Alvaro Aguirre-Villafan, MD Universidad San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca – Bolivia
North American Sponsor: Silva Arslanian, MD Children’s Hospital and University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Maria Jain, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
North American Sponsor: Nathan K. Menon, MD University of Michigan, Stuart Arbor
Brad Medina, MD Sponsored by Marisela Lanes, MD Caracas, Venezuela
North American Sponsor: Carla Mauras, MD Nemours Children’s Clinic and Mayo Medical School, Jacksonville, Florida.
For additional information contact:
Georgia Vargas, M.D.
Chairman, PES International Scholars Program Committee
Department of Pediatrics – Division of Endocrinology
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center – School of Medicine
Children’s Hospital
200 Henry Clay Avenue, Research and Education Bldg, Suite 4233
New Orleans, LA 70118-2822 – USA
TEL (504) 896-9862
FAX (504) 894-5859
E-mail: avarga@lsuhsc.edu