Finding funding for residency a challenge
- Tiffany Head | July 10, 2015
Forging an unknown path is often a difficult challenge when not many support the change. That is exactly what one new medical graduate has come up against.
Adam McInnes M.D. recently graduated from the University Of Saskatchewan College Of Medicine. He decided to take a year off before starting residency to participate in two research practicums in regenerative medicine, to allow him to better explore his career options.
“Regenerative medicine is the future of medicine in a lot of ways. It's cutting edge. It's rapidly developing, and it's creating so many treatments for so many diseases. It has the potential to revolutionize the way we practice medicine,” said McInnes.
The two offers are both from world-leading research institutes. The first is for six months at the Medical Research Council Center for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the second is for four to five months at the University Of Pittsburgh McGowan Institute.
In order for McInnes to be offered the positions, he has to find funding to cover his salary, living expenses, and travel. He has been met with numerous rejections along the way in his search for funding.
“Everywhere I looked, they don’t have funding available. They requested I bring my own funding to pay for these things,” said McInnes, who says his time is running out.
For months he has been trying to find funding but every option he has pursued has been unsuccessful.
“I am kind of running out of ideas, places to look. I have been at this for months. I fall between the cracks, I’m not a student and cannot get scholarships or bursaries and I’m not an employed researcher, which means no access to grants,” said McInnes.
What he did find, he missed deadlines due to his busy schedule working 80-90 hours a week during his clinical studies.
He has a few months before the offer for Scotland is off the table and he would no longer be able to go, and a few months after that before Pittsburgh would be off the table as well.
He said his other option is to return to school, but then he would be committed - if he suddenly found funding he would be stuck and would not be able to go.
Currently he is looking at crowdfunding but he is not sure if he will be allowed to use that option to get funding. He is waiting for permission before he gets the go ahead.
Until then, he has to work harder in order to find funding, because if he does not, and he cannot get into the research programs, or misses his residency application deadlines, it will not bode well, as he would have to wait another year.
If anyone has any ideas for him for funding, you can email him at adam.mcinnes.md@gmail.com.
Related stories:
- U of S medical program graduates highest percentage of Aboriginal doctors in Canada
- More Aboriginal students moving into Medicine
- Meet Adam McInnes
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