CHEST and APCCMPD Announce Recipient of Collaborative Fellow Scholarship

Glenview, Illinois – Esha Kapania, MD, will be the mentee for the inaugural year of the 2024 APCCMPD and CHEST Medical Educator Scholar Diversity Fellowship.

Designed to pair a fellow-in-training with an established medical educator, the unique scholarship was launched in August by the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors (APCCMPD) to improve diversity in pulmonary and critical care medical education.

The program focuses on creating opportunities for fellows at institutions with limited resources to train in teaching, curriculum development and medical education research by giving them access to mentorship at institutions with those resources to foster their development.

Dr. Kapania is a first-year pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) fellow at the University of Louisville and is interested in transitions of care for pediatric patients with pulmonary issues into adulthood.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from a PCCM physician established in the field of clinical education who can help guide my career to be as successful as possible. It’s an added benefit that the mentor selected for this scholarship is a woman in medicine just like me,” says Dr. Kapania. “We get very accustomed to not seeing diversity and representation in higher education, and, while countless strides have been made to increase the representation of women both in medicine as well as in pulmonology and critical care, there remains a gap in the number of women represented in academic positions.”

Announced in late 2023, Başak Çoruh, MD, FCCP, will be the mentor for the fellowship program and will work closely with Dr. Kapania to develop a personalized curriculum to obtain the necessary training and expertise to launch their career as a medical educator in PCCM. Dr. Kapania will also work with Dr. Çoruh to develop a research project that supports their scholarly development.

Dr. Çoruh works as an Associate Professor at the University of Washington and spends her clinical time as an intensivist. She is heavily involved with the CHEST organization through its Critical Care Medicine Board Review courses and serves as the fellowship director for the PCCM fellowship program at her institution.

Applications to be a mentor for next year’s APCCMPD and CHEST Medical Educator Scholar Diversity Fellowship are now open through May 1. Learn more, and apply now. For more financially supported opportunities, including CHEST community impact grants, visit www.chestnet.org/grants, and apply by April 22.

About the American College of Chest Physicians
The American College of Chest Physicians^® (CHEST) is the global leader in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chest diseases. Its mission is to champion the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication and research. It serves as an essential connection to clinical knowledge and resources for its 22,000+ members from around the world who provide patient care in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. For information about the American College of Chest Physicians, visit chestnet.org.

About the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors
The Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors (APCCMPD) consists of program leaders from Critical Care Medicine (CCM), Pulmonary Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM). It represents 98% of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited fellowships in these subspecialties. The APCCMPD’s mission is to foster excellence in training and mentor future pulmonary and critical care medicine educators. In addition, the APCCMPD provides a communication channel among fellowship programs and stakeholder organizations.