Japanese Medical Society of America Scholarships

Every year, JMSA, along with our generous donors, awards scholarships to students and postgraduate trainees in healthcare to support their education and training.

Our Scholarships

The JMSA is dedicated to promoting the exchange of medical and educational information between the US and Japan, as well as in providing valuable medical information to the general public. Many donors, from private individuals to large companies contribute each year to the JMSA scholarship fund to support the education of medical professionals:

• Nishioka Foundation
• Honjo Foundation
• Mitsui USA
• Kuro Murase MD-JMSA Scholarship
• Nippon Life
• Kinichi and Toyoko Shibutani-JMSA Scholarship
• Anonymous Donors

By submitting the single application, you are applying for scholarships from various donor sources. The amount of awards varies depending on the donor but has ranged from $2,500 up to $15,000 in the past. In choosing scholarship recipients, the JMSA looks for candidates who:

• Demonstrate academic excellence
• Show a strong interest in the JMSA and achieving its goals
• Propose a clear, achievable project that will benefit the JMSA and the Japanese community

Eligibility:

• A student who is currently enrolled in a healthcare-related graduate school (medical, dental, nursing, etc) or a postgraduate medical professional who is in training, such as a resident, fellow, or postdoc.
• Must be a JMSA member: Please apply on www.jmsa.org if you are not already a member. Membership needs to be renewed annually.

In your application, you are required to briefly describe a project that you would like to complete related to the JMSA mission. The project can be anything. Examples of past projects include a service to connect elderly Japanese patients with health care, a medical blog in Japanese detailing the experiences of a medical student in America, and a collaborative website to connect Japanese and American medical students. These are just examples of the types of projects that are feasible. Projects that have nothing to do with the mission of JMSA or the Japanese community will not be awarded.

If you receive an award, you will be expected to attend the awards ceremony during the annual spring dinner in New York where you will have the opportunity to make a presentation introducing your project to the scholarship committee. The scholarship committee will contact with more details if you are awarded. You will be assigned a JMSA mentor who will help you with your project. You will also be required to submit a progress report once in October and again in March.

In addition to the application form, please submit at least one letter of recommendation. The letter of recommendation should be from anyone who knows you well and can comment on how you exemplify the goals of JMSA. English letter writing is preferred, but Japanese is OK too.