The UW School of Medicine and Public Health has a strong, ongoing commitment to diversity in training future physicians. In the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine, we believe that embracing diversity makes our community stronger and helps us provide the best care to our patients.
We’re excited to welcome fourth-year medical students from around the country. Our faculty are passionate about emergency medicine and eager to teach and mentor students.
We especially encourage qualified students who identify as coming from disadvantaged backgrounds who are seeking external emergency medicine rotations to apply for our scholarship.
The goal of the scholarship is to give students from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to learn more about our emergency medicine training program. We hope it helps build a more diverse group of future emergency medicine doctors — both at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and across the field.
About the Scholarship
Our four-week Advanced EM Elective is a hands-on, high-impact rotation designed for students applying to emergency medicine residency programs. As a sub-intern, you’ll take the lead in managing seriously ill patients with a wide variety of conditions—building your confidence and clinical skills in real time. You’ll also take part in advanced simulation sessions that sharpen your teamwork and decision-making under pressure. Students consistently rank this elective as one of the top experiences of their medical school journey.
Our scholarship includes:
- $2,000 stipend to be used toward travel, housing, and/or VSLO application and elective fees
- Mentorship and networking: scholars are assigned faculty and senior resident mentors
- Departmental standardized letter of evaluation (SLOE)
- Guaranteed interview with the UW Hospitals and Clinics emergency medicine residency program
Eligibility
We invite students in their fourth year of medical school from a US allopathic or osteopathic medical school to apply who identify as an individual from a disadvantaged background, such as but not limited to:
- High level of financial need.
- First generation college student (neither parent received a baccalaureate degree).
- Students who contribute to the intellectual and cultural enrichment of the program because of their life experiences, including overcoming personal adversity or family hardship, records of extensive community service, or successful careers in other fields.
- Significant barriers to achieving higher education, such as experience in the foster care system, living in a single-parent household, having an incarcerated parent, or responsibilities for providing financial support or primary care for other household members.
Application Process
This competitive scholarship is open to fourth-year medical students who identify as coming from disadvantaged backgrounds who have expressed interest in applying to the University of Wisconsin Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Applications for all rotations are accepted on a rolling basis.
To apply, please submit the following items to Niki Hagen, Clerkship Manager, at nrhagen@medicine.wisc.edu.
- Visiting Student Application AND
- Scholarship Application, which will ask you to submit:
- Letter of intent
- Letter of support from core Clerkship Director
- Curriculum vitae (CV)
- Medical school transcript (unofficial)
- Step 1 score or COMLEX report
Diversity at UW SMPH
Diversity is central to the mission of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in meeting the health needs of the people of Wisconsin and beyond through excellence in education, research, patient care, and service.