Student Externship Fact Sheet

The American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation assumed responsibility for supporting the Student Externship program in 1992 when it took over administration of the program from the AAFP. The AAFP Foundation recognizes that the program provides a valuable experience for a medical student to work along side a family physician, seeing first hand what it means to be on the front line of health care delivery, or to participate in a Family Medicine research project.

The Student Externship Matching Grant program provides an important partnering opportunity between the AAFP Foundation and AAFP’s constituent Chapters and Chapter Foundations. The AAFP Foundation secures matching funds and promotes the program to those institutions/organizations involved with medical students. Administration of the program is handled by the Chapters and Chapter Foundations.

The goal of the Student Externship Matching Grant Program is to stimulate interest among medical students to select a career and/or pursue research opportunities in Family Medicine.

AAFP Chapters or Chapter Foundations that intend to sponsor a Student Externship and have allocated funding for this purpose may apply for a matching grant(s). Sponsoring Chapters or Chapter Foundations are encouraged to work with an academic institution or Family Medicine residency program to identify and provide a one-on-one, student-to-mentor experience. The externship may contain a research component, but this is not a requirement. To qualify for a matching grant the medical student externship must provide the student with a one-on-one learning experience, be a minimum of 4-weeks in duration, the mentors/preceptors must practice in the field of Family Medicine and when possible, externs should be involved with a Family Medicine Interest Group.

The AAFP Foundation has established broad parameters for administering the program but recognizes that Sponsors may need to develop additional guidelines specific to their situation. These modifications may be made, with approval from the AAFP Foundation, as long as they adhere to the overall goal of exposing students to Family Medicine and/or fostering research among medical students and their family physician mentors. The additional guidelines may specify the Sponsor’s role, including delineation of the process used to match students and mentors. Sponsors might wish to specify a preference for utilizing mentors in a private practice setting or set other parameters for administration of the externship.

To request a matching grant, the Chapter or Chapter Foundation responsible for the administration of the student externship needs to complete and submit a 2010 Program Letter of Intent (1-page Word file. About Downloading) or to request a copy of this form letter, please call 1-800-274-2237, ext 4457.

The deadline for submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI) is midnight February 4, 2010.

A confirmation e-mail will be sent acknowledging receipt of the Letters of Intent. If you do not receive an e-mail confirmation, please call to verify that your LOI has been received.

Matching Grant Awards are made on a first-come, first-serve basis, based upon receipt of the completed Letter of Intent. One matching grant per applicant organization will be allocated, up to a predetermined number of grants available. Additional awards are allocated based upon the sequence of submissions and upon the number of externships requested.

The Request for Grant Funds Disbursement must be completed and returned to the AAFP Foundation in order for us to process the payment for your grant award. Once this is submitted, a check request will be initiated and mailed to you within 30 days. All requests for disbursement of 2010 program funds must be submitted to the AAFP Foundation by December 1, 2010. To request a hard-copy of this form letter please call: 1-800-247-2237, ext 4457.

Contact Sondra Goodman, Programs and Grants Manager at 1-800-274-2237, ext 4457.