The Shigeaki Hinohara, M.D. Primary Care Fellowship

Information for Applicants

Mission:

The mission of the Shigeaki Hinohara, M.D. Primary Care Fellowship (Hinohara Fellowship thereafter) is to promote primary care medicine in Japan through excellence in teaching and academic leadership.

Objectives:

The Hinohara Fellowship provides Japanese physicians with opportunities to participate in state-of-the-art primary care education and research at one of America’s leading hospitals in the field and to enable them to meet specific career development goals that will contribute to the future of primary care medicine in Japan.

Receiving institutions:

Division of General Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, U.S. and related institutions: Program Director: Dr. Kenneth J Mukamal.

Activities/programs:

Fellows have options of participating in:

Experience in medical education:

  • Attend clinical seminars/conferences
    • Morbidity and Mortality Conferences: Tuesday 8-9 am
    • Medical Ground Rounds: Thursday 8-9 am
    • General Medicine Grand Rounds: Friday 8-9 am
    • Journal Club: Thursday 12-13 pm
    • Resident report/seminars for residents: schedule varies
  • Observe preceptorship (teaching in patient work-up/management) in the outpatient setting
  • Observe outpatient clerkship: ambulatory teaching for third-year medical students
  • Observe primary care practice by faculty and/or residents
  • Observe clinical teaching on inpatient wards
    • Patient-Doctor program (introductory clinical medicine) for 2nd year medical students
    • Teaching sessions for residents by hospitalists
    • Teaching sessions for students/interns by a Teaching Block resident/Chief Residentt
  • Observe seminars for the “Clinician-Educator Track” residents (held monthly, 1-2 hours)
  • Attend clinical seminars/conferences on Ethics Programs/Palliative Care
  • Attend seminars/lectures at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health
    • Thursday Seminar by the Department of Global Health and Population
    • Monday Seminar by the Department of Nutrition
    • Scientific Writing Course provided at HSPH (3-week course in January)

    • *Overview of medical student education including Patient-Doctor Program is here:
    https://www.bidmc.org/medical-education/medical-education-by-department/medicine/medical-student-education
    *Overview of Internal Medicine Residency Program is available here:
    https://www.bidmc.org/medical-education/medical-education-by-department/medicine/internal-medicine-residency-program

Exposure to research in primary care medicine:

  • Attend research conference/seminars:
    • Seminar for General Medicine Fellows: Monday 12:15-13:15
    • Research Conference: Wednesday 12:15-13:15
    • Seminar for Integrative Medicine Fellowship: Wednesday 16:00-17:00
    • Two-week Research and Methods Applications course in October

    Current focus areas of the Research Section include work aging, cancer, cardiovascular health, complementary and integrative medicine, shared decision-making, and pharmacoepidemiology:
    https://www.bidmc.org/research/research-by-department/medicine/general-medicine-research

  • Fellows may apply for the three-week course in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics is available in June at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health:
    http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/clinical-epi-bio/
  • Fellows are expected to engage in a scholarly project and produce an academic article for which mentorship is provided.

Period of stay:

One year starting in July or September in the prescribed year. The Fellow is eligible for three weeks of holiday during the stay.

Number of positions:

One per Fellowship fiscal year; this fellowship is provided biyearly from Japan in accordance with discussion with the Program Director.

Financial aid:

An estimate salary is approximately 48,000 USD with research funding of approximately 5,000 dollars in a year. This is subject to change.

Fellowship eligibility:

  1. Qualified medical doctor with a Japanese medical license, who works full-time in a primary care division with responsibility in teaching students and/or trainees at a medical school or a teaching hospital in Japan.
  2. Professional level of English proficiency is required.
  3. Required TOEFL scores: over 250 on computer-based TOEFL, over 100 on internet-based TOEFL (iBT), or over 7.0 in IELTS. However, an applicant who does not meet the required score may be chosen as a candidate by the result of interview in English.
  4. Have a position to engage in primary care education and/or leadership after returning to Japan.
  5. USMLE qualification is preferable, although not essential.

Application process:

Applicants should send the following items as an e-mail attachment according to the recruitment.

  1. Curriculum Vitae with a portrait (Use a commercially available form and write in Japanese)
  2. Curriculum Vitae (in English)
  3. Personal Statement (in English)
  4. Statement of reasons for application and future career goals (in Japanese within two A4 papers)
  5. Letter of guarantee of an appropriate position after returning (for example, a letter of recommendation from the division head)
  6. Copy of an official TOEFL or equivalent English examination score report

Selection process:

  1. Candidates are selected for an interview based on the application materials and notified for the date of the interview.
  2. Interview is conducted by selection committee.
  3. Candidates are ranked as the result of the interview and reported to the Program Director at the Division of General Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
  4. Candidates will be interviewed by telephone or videoconference by faculty at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The selection committee will be notified about the results.
  5. A secretary will inform each applicant of the result.
  6. The finalist will be asked to start making plans for the fellowship, and BIDMC faculty will contact him/her on a regular intervals over the year to discuss the plan and to prepare for the fellowship.
  7. The finalist must demonstrate the capability of communicating in English and scientific writing skills to committee on a monthly basis during the preparation period.

*The candidate should ideally be selected at least one year prior to the fellowship year for sufficient preparation.