Student Conference Travel

Students are encouraged to pursue various extracurricular opportunities and to present their research or represent the UWSOM at regional and national meetings. Any School of Medicine student in good academic standing as defined by the UWSOM Student Handbook may be eligible for School of Medicine financial assistance of up to $350 towards airfare to attend a conference.

Recent budget cuts and an increase in the number of students who are applying for student conference financial assistance have created a need to prioritize which requests the School can support financially. The MSA has created an application process for disbursement of School Of Medicine financial assistance related to conference-related travel expenses.

You may apply now for funding assistance for Academic Year 2012-13 (travel to take place after July 1, 2012).

An announcement will be made at the beginning of each Fall quarter (prior to September 1) that this conference travel funding is available but limited. Groups or individuals who know in advance that they will be attending a conference or sending a representative to a regional or national meeting should submit an application no later than September 7 to be considerered for funding prioritization. Applications will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs office and MSA members according to the prioritization guidelines detailed below. Funding decisions will be made by September 14 of each year. If funding is still available after September 14, subsequent requests will be evaluated via a second solicitation of applications due February 15th. The second round of applications will be targeted towards applications with travel dates between October 15th through June 30th. Retrospective applications will be considered equally for funding with prospective applications, so long as--in keeping with the guidelines for prospective application deadlines--the airfare was purchased at least 30 days in advance of the travel date(s). Should funding still be available after the second round application process in February, subsequent applications will be evaluated in the order they are received. If your application was not funded in a previous round of applications, you are eligible to reapply for the next round of applications, provided your airfare is purchased at least 30 days prior to your conference travel date.

Funding priority will be given to students as follows:

• Priority Status 1. Student attending a national conference as a representative of an organization active at UWSOM
  • a. Student attending a national conference of a national Student Interest Group (SIG), representing UWSOM, who is or is pursuing a national leadership position in the SIG.
  • b. Student attending a national conference of a national SIG, representing UWSOM on behalf of the SIG's local chapter, and delivering an oral presentation at the conference.
  • c. Student attending a national conference of a national SIG and representing UWSOM on behalf of the SIG's local chapter.
• Priority Status 2. Individual students delivering an oral presentation at a professional organization's conference.
• Priority Status 3. Individual students delivering a poster presentation at a professional organization's conference.

Members of Student Interest Groups whose members have not received School of Medicine travel funding in the academic year for a SIG-related conference will have priority over SIGs whose members have already received travel funding in the same academic year.

Students requesting funds under Priority Status 2 and 3 (above) are only able to receive UWSOM travel funding once during the course of their UWSOM enrollment.

Applicants will be required to show:

• Why they are interested in attending the conference
• How they will share what they've learned at the conference with their fellow med students and the UWSOM community
• Proof that funding has been sought from a national or local office of the SIG, Principle Investigator, department head or other source if applicable
• Travel details and estimated costs

• National office of SIG
• Departmental funding
• PI of project
• Local chapter of specialty

• Association of American Medical Colleges' Organization of Student Representatives (OSR)
• American Medical Association - Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS)
• American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)
• American Holistic Medical Student Association (AHMSA)
• Student National Medical Association (SNMA)
• Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)
• Medical Students for Choice (MSFC)

Apply online for UWSOM funding assistance for student conference travel

If funding is approved, the student must purchase airfare at least 30 days before the departure date (exceptions may be made in extraordinary circumstances). Students are encouraged to have the Academic Affairs office purchase their airfare if possible. Details about this process will be included in the notification of funding. If a student has been approved for this funding and chooses to purchase their own airfare, receipts must be received by the Academic Affairs Student Travel desk within 10 business days of the last conference day.

Reimbursement is contingent upon submission of receipts and a written report that shares the participant's experiences and conveys what was learned. The report will be posted to the MSA website.

The written report is to serve as an in-depth overview and summary of what was achieved/learned at the conference and should be written in a manner reflective of this. Students will benefit most from a full account of meetings/sessions you attended and any knowledge garnered therein. Thus, please inform us about what you learned and how this knowledge will be applied to your current student experience. For example, if you hadn't attended this meeting or conference, what salient "take away" points would you want to know about? From past experience, a bulleted recap of sessions attended is not sufficient to fulfill this goal.