DISCOveR 

Objective

The Foundation is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, exempt from federal income tax pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section (“IRC”) 501(c)(3) (“Foundation”). The Foundation is organized and operated exclusively for charitable, scientific, and educational purposes, including to support education and research related to colon and rectal disease (“Purpose”).  The Foundation complies with all applicable local, state, and federal anti-discrimination laws.  

In furtherance of its Purpose, the Foundation developed the DISCOveR program (“Program”). The Program is designed to provide an educational research and mentoring experience for medical students (“Objective”). The Program is a research-intensive summer training program for medical students interested in pursuing surgical careers.  Medical students from a variety of backgrounds and with various experiences, including, without limitation, those who are first in their families to achieve higher education, from inner city or rural communities, economically underprivileged, or who have faced personal hardships or challenges to pursue a career in medicine are strongly encouraged to apply to the Program.
 
Application and Review/Notification Dates

Call for applications: February 1, 2025           
Application due date: March 1, 2025
Notification Date: April 12, 2025 (approx.)

Program Description and Funding

Annually the Foundation selects up to six medical students to participate in an educational, research, and mentoring experience with a colorectal surgeon who has volunteered to serve as a mentor for a medical student participating in the Program (“Experience”). The Experience takes place over a four-week period during the summer. During the Experience, the selected medical students:

• Participate in didactic sessions either in person or remotely;
• If possible, receive exposure to a surgical skills lab or bio skills experience;
• Engage in a mentored pre-designed colorectal surgery research experience identified and guided by the medical student’s mentor; and
• Develop mentor relationships and participate in networking opportunities.

In addition, the selected medical students are invited, but not required, to attend the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) Annual Scientific Meeting , where the selected medical students are invited, but not required, to make a presentation regarding their Experience.

The 2025 Program Experiences are from June 16 through July 11. Selected medical students are invited to attend the 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting, May 9-12, Tampa, Florida and make a presentation regarding their Experiences. 

Participation in the Program, including the Experience and the Annual Scientific Meeting, is unpaid. The Foundation provides each selected medical student with up to $5,000.00 to help cover: (i) transportation expenses to and from the Experience; and (ii), meals and housing expenses during the four-week Experience. In connection with the ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting, the Research Foundation provides each selected medical student with: up to $500.00 to help cover travel expenses (i.e., coach airfare or, if less expensive, rail transportation or personal vehicle milage at the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) mileage rate); and (i) up to two (2) hotel nights at the convention hotel while the medical student attends the Annual Scientific Meeting and registration for the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting, May 9-12, Tampa, Florida.

Each selected student is responsible for the following with respect to the student’s participation in the Program, including the Experience and 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting:

• Arranging student’s travel to and from the Experience;
• Arranging student’s housing and meals while participating in the Experience;
• Complying with any documentation, training, and other requirements,required for the student to participate in the Experience, including for non-U.S. citizens any visa or immigration related requirements;
• Advising the Foundation whether the student will attend the 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting;
• Arranging the student’s travel to and from the 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting; and
• Arranging student’s meals during the 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Eligibility and Criteria

• Be enrolled and in good standing in a U.S. allopathic or osteopathic medical school;
• Have completed the first year of medical school at a U.S. allopathic or osteopathic medical school;
• Have demonstrated interest in surgery; and 
• Be able to provide evidence of appropriate vaccinations.

Submissions

Preparing Application Materials

Important Information*

• Keep a record of Control ID number, which can be found on the top right corner on each page of the submission template. When communicating with the Research Foundation and the ScholarOne Customer Care Team, please include the Control ID as a reference.
• Note that some institutions have firewalls that make it difficult to receive communications from the submission site. To ensure uninterrupted email delivery, please whitelist amazonses.com and abstractcentral.com domains.
• Do not forget to click the submit button (at the bottom of Step 6: Review and Submit). If the system is exited without submitting, the submission will be saved and will appear in the “DRAFT” section of the system “View Submissions” page upon re-entering the system.
• Notifications and correspondence will be sent to the email address in the ASCRS account. Correspondence can be obtained by clicking on the Messages in the grey bar at the top right of the screen in the system.
• Applicants should receive a confirmation email after submission (please check spam/junk folders for this email). To prevent this, add [email protected] and [email protected] to address book. If an email confirmation is not received, please contact [email protected].
• Applicants should use Chrome to submit grant applications. Pop-up Blocker must be turned off for submission.

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