Deadline: November 19, 2015
The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission is offering Medical Fellowships for citizens of developing Commonwealth countries. These fellowships are designed for mid-career medical and dental staff from developing countries to spend between three and six months at an approved UK university hospital, learning or improving a specific clinical skill. Commonwealth Medical Fellowships are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with the aim of contributing to the UK’s international development aims and wider overseas interests, supporting excellence in UK higher education, and sustaining the principles of the Commonwealth.
Eligibility/ Selection Criteria
To apply for these fellowships, you must:
- Be a Commonwealth citizen, refugee, or British protected person
- Be permanently resident in a developing Commonwealth country
- Be employed by a hospital affiliated to a university
- Be nominated to the CSC by an eligible institution
- Be available to start your fellowship in the UK on 1 October 2016
- Have qualified as a doctor or dentist between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2009, or before 1 October 2001
- Have met the English language requirements of the General Medical Council (GMC) / General Dental Council (GDC) by 15 April 2016
- Fellows are expected to participate in clinical practice during their fellowship, and to register with the General Medical Council (GMC)/General Dental Council (GDC). If your proposed programme does not require this registration, your application will be considered ineligible.
Applications are considered according to the following selection criteria:
- Academic merit of the candidate
- Quality of the proposal
- Potential impact of the work on the development of the candidate’s home country
Fellowship Benefits
Each fellowship provides:
- Approved airfare from your home country to the UK and return at the end of your award (the CSC will not reimburse the cost of fares for dependants, nor usually the cost of journeys made before your award is finally confirmed)
- Research support grant, payable to your host university hospital
- Stipend (living allowance) at the rate of £1,580 per month, or £1,959 per month for those at universities in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at 2015-2016 levels)
- Reimbursement of the fee for a single English language test and the fee for General Medical Council (GMC)/ General Dental Council (GDC) registration
- Arrival allowance
- Study travel grant towards the costs of approved travel within the UK or overseas
- If you are widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of £444 per month for the first child, and £109 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if you are accompanied by your children and solely legally responsible for them. The level of financial support provided through family allowances is under review and subject to change in both eligibility and rate
How to Apply
You must apply to one of the following nominating bodies in the first instance – the CSC does not accept direct applications for these fellowships:
- Selected universities/medical colleges that are invited to nominate members of staff at affiliated hospitals. For a full list of eligible institutions.
- In Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, through the national University Grants Commission
- In Pakistan, through the Higher Education Commission All applications must be made through your nominating body in your home country.
Each nominating body is responsible for its own selection process. You must check with your nominating body for their specific advice and rules for applying, and for their own closing date for applications. You must make your application using the CSC’s Electronic Application System (EAS) – information on how to use the EAS. Your application must be submitted to and endorsed by one of the approved nominating bodies listed above. The CSC will not accept any applications that are not submitted via the EAS to a nominating body in your home country.
For more information Commonwealth Medical Fellowship.
