Howard H. Wong Scholarship - Three (3) scholarships are available, each with a $2,000 stipend. These scholarships are intended for residents to travel to another residency program to receive specialized training unavailable at their home residency.

The ACRO Resident Scholarship Committee believes that experience in the following areas is often limited and might be provided by the Howard Wong scholarships:

• Pediatric Radiation Oncology
• Gynecologic Oncology
• Head and Neck Oncology
• Brachytherapy
• Stereotactic Radiotherapy
• Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy
• Proton Beam Radiotherapy

The Committee will also consider less traditional areas, such as radioimmunotherapy and hyperthermia. Winners will be expected to attend ACRO 2009, the 19th Annual Meeting of ACRO, to present a poster on their experiences (if the rotation has been completed by the time of the meeting). A Travel Award of $750 plus complimentary registration will be provided (see below).

Medical Informatics Scholarship - One (1) scholarship is available, with $2,500 stipend. The Medical Informatics scholarship, supported by Elekta/IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc., will consist of a 3-week rotation at IMPAC Headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA, where the resident will have the opportunity to observe the development of software and software control processes and participate in an IT-related project. The dates of the rotation are to be negotiated with Dr. Joel Goldwein, the program coordinator, who can be reached at jgoldwein@impac.com. The winner will be expected to attend ACRO 2009, the 19th Annual Meeting of ACRO, to present a poster on his/her experiences (if the rotation has been completed by the time of the meeting). A travel Award of $750 plus complimentary registration will be provided automatically (see below).

The A. Robert Kagan Scholarship in Palliative Medicine - One (1) scholarship position is available annually. It is meant for specialized training in palliative care at the University of Pittsburgh. There is $3,000 support for one month’s experience. Applicants are encouraged to discuss potential opportunities with Dr. Dwight Heron, the program coordinator, who can be reached at herond2@msx.upmc.edu. The winner will be expected to attend ACRO 2009, the 19th Annual Meeting of ACRO, to present a poster on his/her experiences (if the rotation has been completed by the time of the meeting). A Travel Award of $750 plus complimentary registration will be provided automatically (see below).

Annual Meeting Travel Award - Fifteen (15) awards are expected to be available to attend ACRO 2009 the 19th Annual Meeting, to be held February 26-28, 2008, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. Subject to final agreements, travel awards will be funded by one or more of the corporate Platinum Supporters of the annual meeting for 15 residents at $750 each to cover travel and lodging. In addition, ACRO will provide complimentary registration. Of the 15, five will be awarded automatically to winners of other scholarships (above). The remaining 10 will be competitive based on the quality of submission.

The following general rules apply to all of the grants:

1. All applicants must be currently enrolled in an approved residency program in Radiation Oncology in the United States, or be a US citizen enrolled in an approved residency program in Canada.

2. All arrangements, including permission from the respective program directors, must be made prior to application for the grant. A letter of permission must accompany the application.

3. Grants will be awarded on a merit basis.

4. All awards must be for prospective training. Awards to help defray costs of previous experiences will not be considered.

5. The winners will be announced on or about October 31, 2008. The results will be sent to the awardees by letter and posted on this website. The scholarship winners will also be recognized for their achievement at the 2009 ACRO Annual Meeting, to be held February 26-28, 2009, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, Nevada. All scholarship recipients will be expected to attend this meeting (subject to funding of the travel awards) and present a poster on their experiences (if the rotation is completed by the time of the meeting), and will receive a travel award of $750 plus complimentary registration.

6. The scholarships are intended to help the resident defray any additional educational, living, and travel expenses incurred with the awarded opportunity. Travel and expenses to attend the 2009 ACRO Annual Meeting, February 26-28, in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be provided through a travel award (see #5 above).

7. Electives are to be no less than 4 weeks (except for the first half of the Medical Informatics Scholarship) and no more than 8 weeks in duration and must be completed during the year, July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.

8. All applications must be sent by either email, with the materials scanned to a .pdf file to clehman@paimgmt.com (preferred) OR by regular mail to the following address:

   ACRO Resident Scholarship Committee
   American College of Radiation Oncology
   5272 River Road, Suite 630
   Bethesda, MD 20816

9. All applications must be time stamped or postmarked no later than Wednesday, October 1, 2008.

10. Residents may not apply for more than one scholarship.

Resident applicants are expected to contact the institution that has the program or desired experience and obtain approval for an elective rotation from the training director or the departmental chairperson.

Once a resident winner completes the elective rotation, the host program director or departmental chairperson must write a letter (either electronic or paper) to ACRO documenting the resident’s attendance and participation in the program. Additionally, the resident is required to submit a formal report about his or her experience.

ELIGIBILITY:

Any second, third or fourth year radiation oncology resident in an ACGME accredited training program in the United States or a US citizen at an accredited training program in Canada, who has not previously received an ACRO scholarship.

ELECTIVES:

Applicants are responsible for arranging their elective with the host institution and the time away from their home institution.

APPLICATIONS:

Eligible radiation oncology residents must submit their application 4 documents (application form, letter from residency director, essay and CV) to the ACRO Resident Scholarship Committee date stamped or postmarked by October 1, 2008. Submitting by email is preferred and this should be as a .pdf file and sent to clehman@paimgmt.com. If submitting by regular mail, four (4) complete sets of the required documents are required. The application form provides space for the name of the host institution, the responsible faculty member, and dates of rotation. The essay should clearly describe how the proposed elective would supplement their residency experience.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Availability of these scholarship awards will appear in the ACRO Bulletin and the ACRO Website, and will be sent by email and letter to the program directors AND chief residents of accredited radiation oncology training programs in the United States.

REVIEW PROCESS:

The three members of the ACRO Resident Scholarship Committee will review all applications. Each application will be reviewed for merit, scored and ranked. The successful scholarship applicants will receive notice of their award, and the unsuccessful applicants will be sent a letter of regret.

COMPLETION:

ACRO will send checks for the scholarships to the recipients once they have completed their electives and have forwarded summaries of their experiences along with a documentary letters from the host institutions.