VCORCDP Scholar Eligibility
Senior Fellows in training or junior faculty (Instructors or Assistant Professors) interested in developing careers in clinical cancer research are eligible for VCORCDP. All clinicians must have completed their residency.
Potential scholars for the VCORCDP may come from any program within Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Applications from outside the institution are encouraged, such as applicants from Meharry Medical College (MMC), but the applicant must hold an appointment (such as an adjunct) within one of the VUMC departments prior to entering the VCORCDP.
The majority of VCORCDP scholars come from core clinical oncology disciplines:
1) Medical Oncology
2) Pediatric Oncology
3) Surgical Oncology
4) Radiation Oncology
However, roughly 20% of applicants in the past 15 years have come from outside the classical clinical oncology disciplines, such as Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Dermatology, Epidemiology, Cancer Biology, Urology, Pulmonary Medicine, and Neurology. In addition, senior fellows or junior faculty from other non-oncology medical and surgical subspecialties (such as Geriatrics, Gastroenterology, Gynecology, Cardiology, and Otolaryngology) are potentially eligible for the VCORCDP, but the applicant’s proposed research must be directly related to cancer.
Research projects must fulfill the definition of patient-oriented research: “research conducted with human subjects (or material from human origin) for which an investigator directly interacts with human subjects.”
The Internal Advisory Committee selects applicants for support based on:
1) The applicant's past educational and training history;
2) Their career goals as noted in the submitted personal statement;
3) Their dedication to a research career in clinical oncology, which will be based on their past record of involvement, their personal statement, and letters from references;
4) The letter of recommendation by the trainee’s proposed mentor;
5) The Internal Advisory Committee’s assessment of the potential benefit for career development for each applicant.
Appointees will be designated Paul Calabresi Scholars. The Committee will also make efforts to recruit candidates from underrepresented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds.