Dear Dr. Macario,
I am extremely interested in the Stanford Research Career Development Award program and will be submitting my application shortly. I just had a couple of questions I was hoping you could answer. When I come to interview for the Anesthesiology program at Stanford, will I have the opportunity to meet with potential research mentors? Also, my research interest is in basic pain mechanisms and therefore I am hoping to pursue a career in clinical pain management to complement this work; when do Stanford Research Award recipients usually complete clinical fellowships? Is it before or after the research time?
Thank you in advance, I look forward to hearing from you,
V
Alex Answers:
Dear V,
I am delighted to hear of your interest. The award, we now call it the FARM scholar for short for Fellowship in Anesthesia Research and Medicine at Stanford, really tries to provide the best environment possible for people to prepare for and succeed in academics, and is quite flexible. In terms of applying normally what we do is to wait after the Match as this allows you to get to know the dept better and who would be a good mentor, and lab. When you come interview we will have you meet Drs. Sean Mackey and David Clark. Another person you will meet with is Dr. Rona Giffard who is vice-chair for research. Please also look at the med school faculty outside the dept for potential mentors. One of the current FARM scholars has done this. In terms of the clinical fellowship that can come before, during, or after the research time depending on what seems like the best strategy overall.