Fellows

Welcome Current, Alumni, & Prospective Fellows!

Here you can find tips, tricks, and inspiration from your colleagues in the fellowship. This is a space reserved for you to connect and find out what other fellows and sites are doing. If you are considering a VA AFWH experience, perusing these pages can give you insight into what the fellowship is about and what direction it can take you in the future.

Our fellows, past and present, provide tips, testimonials, and comments that explain what the fellowship offered them and how rich the opportunity was in relation to developing their careers.

eNewsletter Articles

Career Development Awards—Application Experience

By Chandra Khalifian, PhD

During fellowship, I led the development of and piloted the first comprehensive couple-based suicide-specific intervention called Treatment for Relationships and Safety Together (TR&ST). My RR&D CDA-2 will refine and examine preliminary efficacy of TR&ST in a randomized controlled trial.

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Program Highlights

2020 FELLOW AWARDS

2020 Young Investigator Award

Karin Wu, MD a fellow at San Francisco, was awarded the 2020 Young Investigator Award by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). Congratulations, Dr. Wu! … Read More>

2020 FELLOW PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS

Chandra Khalifian, PhD – San Diego Fellow

Khalifian, C. E., Leifker, F., Morland, L., Depp, C., Glynn, S., Bryan, C. (accepted). Treatment for Relationships and Safety Together (TR&ST): A novel couple-based suicide-specific intervention. The Behavior Therapist.​ Szpunar, M. J., Khalifian, C. E., Lang, … Read More>

Resources

We know how important resources and information are to success. So we have collected a selection of resources on this page that you may find useful at varying times during your fellowship and/or career. We anticipate these pages will become a type of toolkit or metaphorical bag of tricks that will grow organically, so be sure to visit more than once.

Read More> to explore resources related to:

Women’s Health Research

Curriculum

Professional Development

Testimonials & Where Alumni Are Now

“The training I received during the WH fellowship was directly responsible for my success in grant writing, manuscript development and the care of women in VA.”  -Nasia Safdar, MD, PhD

The VA Older Women’s Health Fellowship provided me with the protected time, training, and astute mentorship that I needed to successfully compete for an NIH Career Development Award. Furthermore, the collegiality of the program ensured a ready-network of other faculty and trainees who have become life-mentors, colleagues and friends.”  -Amy J Haavisto Kind, MD, PhD

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Tips & Tricks for Fellowship

Akeira L. Johnson, MD (Milwaukee site) feels it is important to:

  1. Have a list of goals that you want to obtain from the fellowship training. This helps with initial direction, but keep them flexible enough understanding that your interest or influences may change.
  2. Utilize all the wisdom of your mentors and comrades with similar interests. You will gain a wealth of knowledge that will assist your professional development and career growth.
  3. Have fun while taking chances!  This is a good time to become an expert in an area that you are passionate about and completely enjoy it. Your mentors will continue to guide you when necessary. Finding your niche while exuding passion will be a reaffirming choice that you are doing the right thing.

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