The Diversity Innovation Hub (DIH) Scholarly Year Fellowship is an opportunity for students to take a gap year to pursue a non-traditional year focused on addressing social determinants of health. Students are selected based on their show of passion, drive, and interest in the mission of DIH.
Fellowship proposals are expected to explore and/or apply concepts from fields such as healthcare innovation, technology, and business to address health disparities in innovative ways. The fellow will be supported by DIH resources and faculty members, as well as an expert mentor that they have identified. In offering this fellowship award, we hope to encourage initiatives that address health equity and support students in the exploration of fields adjacent to clinical, translational, and basic science research. Fellows do not need prior experience in your chosen field to apply.
This opportunity is recognized by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Medical Student Research Office (MSRO) and is subject to requirements for a scholarly year. The fellow will also receive a research stipend and conference support. Applications typically open from February to March of each year.
With advances in technology and innovation, the medical landscape is evolving and medical education training must adapt in concert. As the desire grows for students to break into the innovation space, the DIH acts as a conduit—building a pathway for students to gain the skills and experience necessary to become specialists in design, investing, and the health technology innovation ecosystem.
The Scholarly Year Fellow will work with DIH and MSRO to establish the timeline for their Scholarly Year, which will be no less than 11 months. Funding from DIH will be provided as per the timeframe required by MSRO.
We are excited to announce that applications for the 2024 DIH Scholarly Year Fellowship are now live!
For the 2024-2025 academic year, the fellowship will provide three medical students full funding ($50,000) for a non-traditional scholarly year experience, in addition to health insurance through ISMMS and conference support. Students will have to apply via the DIH Scholarly Year application.
The Three Scholarly Year fellowships are detailed below:
– A Diversity Innovation Hub partnership with the Department of Surgery to have one student spend a year in research capacity at the Kyabirwa Surgical Center in Uganda learning and studying innovative tools to increase efficiencies, quality, and delivery of surgical care. Students spent about half the year in Uganda and will lead the research team onsite.
– A Diversity Innovation Hub partnership with Consumer Digital to have one fellow spend a year with the Consumer Digital team working on projects related to patient access to care and care team delivery of care through digitization for the Mount Sinai Commercialization B2B efforts.
– A Diversity Innovation Hub position for a self-identified project in the fields of health innovation, technology, and/or business that is focused on improving and tackling disparities due to the social determinants of health. The application involves a description of the project idea and requires a brief letter from the potential project/experience mentor. Students will be expected to have pre-identified a company for the potential project that would align with DIH goals.
MSRO: This opportunity is recognized by MSRO and fulfills all requirements for a Scholarly Year. In offering this Fellowship Award, our goal is to inspire and support the exploration of health tech fields adjacent to clinical, translational, and basic science research.
Timeline: Applications for the DIH Fellowship Award will be reviewed in February and applicants will be notified of their interview status by early March, with final decisions made by end of March for all three Scholarly Year positions.
Eligibility: We particularly encourage applications for projects outside of traditional academic/clinical research. Students do not need to have a prior background in their chosen fields to be considered for the DIH Scholarly Year Fellowship. Applicants will be asked to share their interest in DEI, tackling SDoH, innovations along with a copy of their resume, and a recommendation letter.
Please also see the Scholarly Year Guidelines for additional details on eligibility.
Submit your application here (https://forms.gle/oFRjRy7niJPCtQEs6) by 11:59PM ET on Friday, February 9th.