The Commonwealth Medical Fellowships 2020 in the UK are now accepting applications from mid-career medical staff from low and middle-income countries, to enhance their clinical skills. The CSC awards around 800 scholarships and fellowships for postgraduate study and professional development to Commonwealth citizens each year.
The purpose of this fellowship program is to provide mid-career medics with the opportunity to enhance their clinical skills and to have catalytic effects on their workplaces.
The CSC awards around 750 scholarships and fellowships for postgraduate study and professional development to Commonwealth citizens each year.
The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is one of the largest and most prestigious international scholarship schemes in the world. Since it was established in 1959, 35,000 individuals have held a Commonwealth Scholarship or Fellowship – 27,000 of them were funded by the UK government, through the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom (CSC).
Commonwealth Medical Fellowships 2020:
Host Country:
- United Kingdom
Funded By:
- Funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID)
Fellowship Themes:
These UK fellowships are offered under one of the CSC’s six themes:
- Science and technology for development
- Strengthening health systems and capacity
- Promoting global prosperity
- Strengthening global peace, security, and governance
- Strengthening resilience and response to crises
- Access, inclusion, and opportunity
Fellowship Benefits:
Each fellowship provides:
- Approved airfare from your home country to the UK and return at the end of your award (the CSC will not reimburse the cost of fares for dependents, nor usually the cost of journeys made before your award is finally confirmed)
- Research support grant, payable to your host university hospital
- Stipend (living allowance) at the rate of £1,696 per month, or £2,104 per month for those
at university hospitals in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at 2019-2020 levels) - Reimbursement of the fee for a single English language test and the fee for General Medical Council (GMC) registration
- Warm clothing allowance
- Study travel grant towards the costs of approved travel within the UK
- If you are widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of £466 per month for the first child, and £114 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if you are accompanied by your children and they are living with you at the same address in the UK
Eligibility Criteria:
To apply for these fellowships, you must:
- Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person
- Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country
- Have an academic appointment in an eligible Commonwealth country at one of the medical schools recognized by the World Directory of Medical Schools. For more information, visit the World Directory of Medical Schools website.
- Be employed by a hospital affiliated to the Medical School where you have the academic appointment
- Be available to start your fellowship in the UK between October-December 2020
- Have qualified as a doctor before 1 October 2005
- Have qualified at a medical school recognized by the World Directory of Medical Schools. For more information, visit the World Directory of Medical Schools website.
- Have met the English language requirements of the General Medical Council (GMC) by 31 August 2020. For more information on GMC requirements, visit the GMC website.
- Have verified your primary medical qualification independently by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) for General Medical Council (GMC) registration by 31 August 2020.
You will be expected to participate in clinical practice during your fellowship, and to register with the General Medical Council (GMC). If your proposed program does not require this registration, your application will be considered ineligible.
Eligible Commonwealth Countries:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bangladesh
- Belize
- Botswana
- Cameroon
- Dominica
- Eswatini
- Fiji
- The Gambia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guyana
- India
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- MauritiusMontserrat
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- St Helena
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
How to Apply Commonwealth Medical Fellowships 2020 in the UK?
You must make your application directly to the CSC using CSC’s online application system. Your application must be submitted to and endorsed by the Dean of the Medical School which you have the academic appointment The CSC will not accept any applications that are not submitted via the CSC’s online application system.
Only one application per applicant for these fellowships will be accepted.
Application deadline: All applications must be submitted by 16:00 (GMT) on 06 April 2020 at the latest.
Supporting documentation: You must provide the following supporting documentation by 16:00 (BST) on 27 April 2020 in order for your application to be eligible for consideration:
- Proof of citizenship or refugee status; a copy of your valid passport (or national ID card) showing your photograph, date of birth, and country of citizenship – uploaded to the online application system
- Full university transcripts and certificates detailing the dates of qualification for your primary medical degree – uploaded to the online application system
- Academic reference from the Head of your Teaching Hospital Department outlining how the skills gained are required. All references are to be submitted directly by the referees to the online application system (referees will be sent an email request)
- An Endorsement by the Dean of the Medical School at which you have the academic appointment confirming your academic appointment submitted directly by the Dean to the online application system (the Dean will be sent an email request)
- Supporting statement from your first choice proposed supervisor in the UK university hospital – submitted directly to the CSC (supervisors will be sent an email request)
The CSC will not accept supporting documentation submitted outside the online application system.
Selection Process:
Once received by the CSC, each candidate’s application will be considered first by the CSC’s Medical Awards Administrator, and then by the CSC selection committee in competition with other candidates. Applications will be considered according to the following selection criteria:
- Academic merit of the candidate
- Quality of the proposal (minimum 200 words)
- The potential impact of the work on the development of the candidate’s home country
Application Deadline:
- All applications for the Commonwealth Medical Fellowships 2020 must be submitted by 16:00 (GMT) on 06 April 2020 at the latest. Supporting documentation: You must provide the following supporting documentation by 16:00 (BST) on 27 April 2020 in order for your application to be eligible for consideration:
