Aggrey Burke Fellowship applications now open
Applications for the Aggrey Burke Fellowship for Black medical students are now open!
The Aggrey Burke Fellowship was launched in 2023 as part of our Equality Action Plan and aims to 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 hope to create a more diverse workforce reflective of our communities.
The fellowship is named after Dr Aggrey Burke (1943-2025) – the first Black psychiatrist in the NHS and a trailblazer in our specialty. Dr Aggrey Burke carried out extensive research on the role of racial discrimination in psychiatric disorders and courageously exposed racist admissions policies in a number of medical schools.
The two-year fellowship programme offers a range of benefits including:
- mentoring
- CPD fund of £1,500 to be spent on activities related to psychiatry and career development
- fully-funded place at RCPsych International Congress
- induction and networking events
- access to RCPsych’s eLearning Hub
- access to electronic copies of College journals.
Fellows are expected to act as ambassadors for psychiatry and for the fellowship. Our first cohort of fellows contributed to an RCPsych podcast for Black History Month 2025, where they reflected on how the fellowship has shaped their perspectives on mental health, the significance of networking and mentorship in their journey as future psychiatrists, and what it means to stand in power and pride. You can listen here: Black History Month - Breaking Barriers: Reflections from the Aggrey Burke Fellows
Our second cohort of fellows, recruited in 2025, recently shared why they applied for the fellowship and what they hope to gain from it over the next two years – You can watch the interview here: Meet our Aggrey Burke Fellows
Applications for the 2026 cohort will close on 27 April.