Aldo R. Castañeda Fellowship
An Honoring Our Mentors Fellowship Program
Applicant Requirements: Deadline ends at 11:59pm Eastern on 7/1/2024
Career Stage: Early Career Surgeons
Program Type: Fellowship
Specialty: Congenital
Status: Open
Opens: April 15, 2024
Deadline: July 2, 2024
Program Overview
The AATS Foundation Aldo R. Castañeda Fellowship has been established by mentees and friends of Dr. Aldo Castaneda, including many members of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery (formerly the “Aldo Castaneda Society”). This fellowship offers Latin American congenital heart surgeons within their first ten years of practice the opportunity to spend up to three months of observational training within a host facility in North America (ideally a first or subsequent generation mentee of Aldo Castaneda).
The fellowship is sponsored and administered by the AATS Foundation and provides an award of up to $15,000 to one recipient for three months of study, or two recipients up to $7,500 for one month of study, to defray travel and living expenses while in North America. Additionally, recipients will be strongly encouraged to attend the AATS Annual Meeting; those who attend will receive a $200 travel stipend to defray costs of registration.
Eligibility Requirements
- Must be a citizen of Latin America.
- Must be in the first ten years of his/her practice.
- Must be fluent in English.
- Candidate must meet all necessary criteria (license, visa, etc.) for travel to and from host training site.
Application Process
- Applicants should provide a curriculum vitae with a full description of their surgical experience.
- Letter of support from his/her current department chair/division chief.*
- Additional letter of support from host.
- Two to three-page narrative to include:
- What they hope to accomplish during their fellowship.
- How they will utilize the skills they have learned at their home institution.
- Relationship of the planned study to the applicant’s prior experience, preparation. and professional goals.
- Statement of future career goals.
- How they plan to spend the funding.
*For those looking to send letters of support for the candidate directly to the AATS Foundation, please email admin@aatsfoundation.org.
Please note that any award payments made to foreign individuals may be subject to federal tax withholding of up to 30% if a recipient is traveling to the United States.
Review Process
AATS Foundation’s Congenital Scholarship Committee will review all applications and recommend recipients to be presented to AATS Foundation Board of Directors for a final decision.
Applications will be graded on all aspects of the award criteria. All applicants will be notified with an official letter from the AATS Foundation within 2-3 months of the program deadline. Should you have any questions regarding your status prior to receiving this notification, please contact admin@aatsfoundation.org.