The Aggrey Burke Fellowship for Black Medical Students

The Aggrey Burke Fellowship is a two-year programme for Black medical students at UK universities. It offers a range of benefits including a mentor, CPD fund and a fully funded place at RCPsych International Congress. 

RCPsych is committed to promoting equality and equitable outcomes for College members, staff, mental health staff, and patients and carers. 

As part of our Equality Action Plan, we are launching a new fellowship scheme that will  encourage and support Black medical students to pursue a career in psychiatry.

We know this group is under-represented within our College membership and within psychiatry in general (RCPsych membership data, Sept 2022).   

Through this scheme, we aim to create a more diverse workforce reflective of our communities.

The Aggrey Burke Fellowship is a two-year programme for Black medical students at UK universities. It offers are range of benefits including:

  • mentoring (senior trainee, SAS or consultant) – where possible, your mentor will be aligned to your career interests
  • CPD fund of £1500 to be spent on activities of your choosing related to your career development and / or understanding of psychiatry.
  • fully-funded place at RCPsych International Congress and invitation to the fellows and bursary holders networking event at congress.
  • induction and mid-programme event to facilitate networking with each other, College members, officers and mentors.
  • access to RCPsych’s eLearning Hub (CPD eLearning/TrOn).
  • access to electronic copies of College journals.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must:

  • have one of the following categories of ethnicity:
    • Black African
    • Black British
    • Black Caribbean
    • Black (other)
  • be a medical student at a UK university (UK campuses only)
  • be enrolled in a UK medical school at the start of each fellowship year: 1 September 2023 and 1 September 2024.

Fellows may be supported in undertaking career advancement projects such as research, audits etc.

Fellows will be expected to act as 'ambassadors' for psychiatry and for the fellowship. This may include being asked to write articles, give presentations etc. 

Fellows will be expected to participate in evaluation of the scheme, including providing career progression updates for up to 5 years after the fellowship. 

Application process

We are not currently accepting applications, please check back here for further updates about this.

When completing the form, please note we are looking for interest in and a commitment to psychiatry, as well as a commitment to the College’s values. We are looking for potential rather than achievement to date. 

Some applicants may be invited to attend a brief online interview as a second selection stage for the Fellowship. 

Successful applicants will be selected by a panel of senior College members and staff.

If you have any questions regarding the fellowship, please contact careers@rcpsych.ac.uk.

FAQs

We know this group is under-represented within our College membership and within psychiatry in general (RCPsych membership data, Sept 2022). Through this scheme, we aim to create a more diverse workforce reflective of our communities.

The College offers support to all medical students, included a number of bursaries, our student associate membership and our Choose Psychiatry initiatives. Our data shows that psychiatrists from Black backgrounds, particularly Black Caribbean, are the most under-represented. For this reason, our scheme has focused on supporting more medical students from Black backgrounds to consider a career in psychiatry.

Applicants must be enrolled in a UK medical school at the start of each fellowship year: 1 September 2023 and 1 September 2024.

Read more to receive further information regarding a career in psychiatry