Frequently Asked Questions for Residents

1. Who should use this site?
   
   
2. How do I use this site?
   
   
3. What is the difference between adding a program to my list and confirming it?
   
   
4. I don't have all the information asked for in the application. What should I do?
   
   
5. Who can see my application and when can they see it?
   
   
6. Is there a fee to apply for Fellowship Programs?
   
   
7. Where do I send my CV?
   
   
8. Where do I send my letters of recommendation?
   
   
9. Can I see the Fellowships that are available without signing up to use the site?
   
   
10. I have an account on the web site but I do not see the "Add to List" button in the Fellowship Directories. What's wrong?
    
    
11. How does the Match Process Work?
    
    
12. How do I recover my username and password?
    
    
13. I have my username and password, but the site won't let me log in. What's wrong?

WHO SHOULD USE THIS SITE?

General Surgery Residents who wish to apply for a Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship position.

HOW DO I USE THIS SITE?

As a surgery resident looking for a fellowship, you will use two areas of this site: the Residents section and the Directory of Fellowships.

Resident Section

The first thing you should do is create an account and your universal fellowship application. Go to the Residents section and select the first option "Create Account." You will be prompted to enter a user id, a password and your email address. Once you have done this successfully, you will then be prompted to log in using the information you just entered. If successful, you should see the Welcome page. You now have an account on the FC web site and can proceed to create your universal application.

On the Welcome screen, the first option is to Create/Edit Universal Fellowship Application. Selecting that option will begin the application process. Simply fill out the information on each screen as completely as possible and click the "Save & Continue" button located at the bottom of each page. If you go to another page or leave this site without clicking the "Save & Continue" button, all information on that page will be lost. Please pay attention to any notes that appear on the right of the screen that will give information on the fields. All dates must be entered as MM/DD/YYYY. When you see a text box with multiple lines, you should be able to copy and paste information into those fields from MS Word.

Once you have successfully gone through all six pages of the application, you will see the Success message. Your application is now complete and you may go to the Directory of Fellowships and begin reviewing Fellowships to apply to. To edit your application or manage your list of programs, all you need to do is log back in to the Residents section upon your next visit.

Directory Section

You may access the list of programs in two ways. In Browse mode, you are presented with a list of programs in tabular format. You can resort the programs by clicking on the column header. Only ten programs are displayed per page. Underneath the table are navigation buttons that will advance/rewind the view by 10 records or jump to the beginning/end of the list. The Program Names can be clicked to show the full detail of that program.

In Search mode, you are presented with the option to do one of two searches, search by text or search by state/province. Please note that you may only search using one method or the other at this time. Text search mode uses the term(s) you input to search all programs for matching text. For example, if you wanted to see all fellowships mentioning bariatric surgery, you would enter "bariatric" into the search box and click the button. A list of all matching programs will be presented. To search by state/province, choose the state/province from the drop-down box and click the search button. A list of all fellowships in the selected area will be returned. For example, to find all fellowships in California, select California from the drop down box and click the search button.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADDING A PROGRAM TO MY LIST AND CONFIRMING IT?

When you are logged in and are using the Directory of Fellowships, you will see an "Add to List" button next to each program listing and at the bottom of the detail view of the program. By clicking this button, you add that Program to your Personal List where you may later confirm your desire to apply for the program.

The FC web site uses a two-step process to select fellowship programs you wish to apply to. In the first step, you add the programs you are interested in to your Personal List that is saved in our system. The second step requires you to confirm the programs you want your application to be submitted to from your Personal List page. Application fees apply only for the programs you select AND confirm (q.v.).

I DON'T HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION ASKED FOR IN THE APPLICATION. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

If you don't have a particular piece of information needed for the application and that field is required (you will get an error message if the field is not filled out), you can use any text in that field to bypass the requirement. However, this is not recommended for reasons explained below.

If the field is not required, you may leave it blank and continue but please remember to come back and edit your application to add the information at a later date.

WHO CAN SEE MY APPLICATION AND WHEN CAN THEY SEE IT?

Your universal fellowship application is not visible to anyone until you select AND confirm a program to send your application to. Once you have confirmed a program, that program can view your application.

Please keep the above in mind if you leave any portion of your application incomplete. If you select and confirm a program and your application has placeholder text or missing information, it is possible for a program to see it in that state.

IS THERE A FEE TO APPLY FOR FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS?

Yes. You may apply for up to 20 programs for $200. After the first 20 programs, you may apply for up to 10 additional programs for $100. This fee only applies to programs you select AND confirm. For example, you are allowed to select every available program for your personal list at no fee. As soon as you CONFIRM a single program, that counts against your first 20 and you will be invoiced a minimum of $200. If you confirm your application to 34 programs, you will be invoiced $400 ($200 for the first 20, $100 for programs #21-30, $100 for programs #31-34). You need to supply a credit card before you can use this site. More information is available in the Resident section.

WHERE DO I SEND MY CV?

Because almost all of the information contained in your CV is in the universal fellowship application there is no need to submit a seperate CV.

WHERE DO I SEND MY LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION?

Please have all of your letters of recommendation sent to:

The Fellowship Council
11300 West Olympic Blvd, Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90064
fax: 310-437-0585

Please make sure that your (the resident's) name appears prominently on the letter of recommendation and that the Fellowship Council is referenced. When you fill out your universal fellowship application, you should provide the FC with the contact information for each of your letter writers to help us match up the letters when they are received. Letters of recommendation should be received by the Fellowship Council office by the September 1st application deadline. For verification that your letters have been received, e-mail Vanessa at vanessa@fellowshipcouncil.org.

 

CAN I SEE THE FELLOWSHIPS THAT ARE AVAILABLE WITHOUT SIGNING UP TO USE THE SITE?

Yes. You may view the listings in the Directory of Fellowships without signing up or logging in, but you will not be able to apply for any of the fellowships. All fellowships that are listed on this site will only take applications made through this site.

I CREATED AN ACCOUNT AND APPLICATION, BUT I DON'T SEE THE "ADD TO LIST" BUTTONS WHEN USING THE DIRECTORY OF FELLOWSHIPS. WHAT'S WRONG?

Most likely, you are not logged in to your account. Please make sure you are logged in to the system in order to use the Add to List and Confirm Application functions.

If you are logged in but still cannot see the buttons, please contact the FC Webmaster for technical support by email or phone (310-437-0555 x 100)

HOW DOES THE MATCH PROCESS WORK?

The match process will now be managed by the Fellowship Council. There will be a Fellowship Council match web site which will be separate from the application site. The match web site is where you will submit your rank order list and where you find out if/where you have been matched. The site will open on September 5. Additional information on this site will be available soon.

HOW DO I RECOVER MY USERNAME AND PASSWORD?

If you forget your account information, there is a form to recover them at https://fellowshipcouncil.org/residents/recoverpassword.php. You need to use the email address that you created the account with to recover information. You may change this email address by editing your application and changing the email address that shows up on page 1 of the application.

If you have also forgotten the email address, please contact the FC Webmaster for technical support by email or by phone (310-437-0555 x 100).

I HAVE MY USERNAME AND PASSWORD, BUT THE SITE WON'T LET ME LOG IN. WHAT'S WRONG?

When you log in, the site attempts to place a cookie on your browser that will identify you for the duration of your session. If your browser or your institution prevents cookies for security reasons, you will have difficulty using this site. You may wish to move to a computer outside of the network to continue this process.