The American Thoracic Society created the Underrepresented Trainee Development Scholarship (UTDS) to increase representation of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine research by providing an opportunity for trainees in U.S. based programs to attend the ATS International Conference (IC). UTDS awardees will receive a certificate of achievement, free registration to the ATS 2024 International Conference and 1 free year of ATS membership. They will also be honored during the Diversity Forum at ATS 2024.

• The AAMC defines “underrepresented in medicine” (UIM) as: “racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population.” Previously, the AAMC used the term “underrepresented minority,” which referred to Black, Mexican American, Native American (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian), and mainland Puerto Rican populations. The AAMC remains committed to ensuring access to medical education and medicine-related careers for individuals from these four racial/ethnic groups historically underrepresented in medicine.
• The applicant must be the first author on an abstract accepted for presentation at the ATS International Conference.
• Case Reports will not be accepted.
• Applicant must be a current trainee, at any stage of training from high school through post-doctoral fellow, at an institution in the United States.  They cannot be a research assistant or laboratory technician unless CURRENTLY enrolled in a training program.
• For PhD applicants, ONLY postdocs (with 5 or fewer years of training) are eligible.

VERY IMPORTANT:
If selected for this award, applicants will be notified of what additional documents need to be submitted to complete the award process.

• Applicants must submit a complete online application packet by Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
• Applicant must submit the following to be considered for the award:
  • Completed online application form.
  • A letter of support from research mentor indicating:
    • The contribution of the applicant to the research project (basic science, clinical or translational research)
    • The impact of the award on the applicant
    • The leadership potential of the applicant
  • A copy of the abstract accepted for presentation at the ATS International Conference

• The applications are scored on the following:
  • Quality of the science
  • Leadership potential of the applicant
  • Strength of the letter - applicants and mentors should be aware that this letter carries significant weight with the committee reviewing UTDS applications. Letter should address at a minimum:
    • role of the applicant in the project
    • leadership potential
    • how this award would benefit the applicant
  • In some instances, the mentor’s letter can be the sole difference in whether an applicant does or does not receive an award.
  • Applicants will be notified by early April concerning the outcome of their application.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Liz Guzman at lguzman@thoracic.org.