RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship

The Medical Student Eye Research Fellowships allow gifted students to take a year off from allopathic medical school and devote time to the pursuit of a research project within an RPB-supported department of ophthalmology.  RPB is partnering with The Glaucoma Foundation (TGF) to co-fund one (1) award in glaucoma research, and the other awards will be funded by RPB.  We encourage projects that incorporate artificial intelligence and/or data science.  

• The RPB / TGF (sponsored by Annette Grollman) Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship in Glaucoma Research, will focus on glaucoma research, the medical student applying for this award must be under the mentorship of a glaucoma physician.  
• The RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship will not have a specific scientific focus and are open to any topic in vision research within an RPB-supported department of ophthalmology.  Open to students of allopathic medicine (MD) only.

The fellowship, which must take place prior to the third or fourth year of  medical school, will be funded for one year with a $30,000 grant, a portion of which should be utilized to help finance the recipient's eye research activities. Up to an additional $8,000 will be provided for students who must relocate at least one hour away from their medical school location to another school for the fellowship.  (Distribution of these additional funds is at the discretion of RPB.)  MD/PhD students are not eligible to apply. 

The program is neither intended to become a vehicle to assure the candidate a residency, nor used simply to provide technical assistance. The candidate, mentor, and the proposed training program are evaluated in the review process. Mentors should carefully consider the research project and its objectives as well as the role of and outcomes for the medical student within the project, as they will be required to submit this information in the application.  Since outcomes are not announced until almost six months after submission, the applicant should be aware of the risk of rejection. Grantee chairs may nominate two (2) candidates per grant review cycle -- one student for the RPB / TGF MSF and one student for the RPB MSF.

Only current RPB-grantee departments of ophthalmology may nominate candidates for the Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship. 

The spring cycle application deadline for the Medical Student Fellowship is January 10, with nomination forms due no later than December 15. The fall cycle application deadline is July 1, with nomination forms due no later than June 15.  Applications received without a prior nomination form will not be accepted. (If the nomination or application deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, please consider the deadline to be the following business day.) 

The nomination and application forms as well as the guidelines and instructions for this award are available below.

RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship Nomination Form

RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship Application Form

RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship Guidelines / Instructions