AAF Bilateral Exchange Programs

Andlinger Residency Exchange

Through the Andlinger Residency Exchange Program, the American Austrian Foundation (AAF) awards fellowships to outstanding American and Austrian medical residents. The program supports training for Austrian medical residents in the United States and for American medical residents in Austria. They are encouraged to do rotations in the OMI partner hospitals for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of one month. The program supplements the residents’ education and broadens their experience through exposure to a foreign healthcare system.

American and Austrian medical residents in their third or fourth year of training are eligible to apply for the program. The fellowship is a travel grant. Fellows are responsible for their own arrangements, such as travel, insurance, housing, and correspondence with their mentor.

The fellowship program is named after Mr. Gerhard R. Andlinger, a successful American businessman with Austrian roots and a trustee of the AAF who generously supported it since its inception in 1992. To date, more than 185 medical residents from Austria and the United States have successfully participated in this bilateral exchange.

 Max Kade Clinical Clerkships

The Max Kade Clinical Clerkships Program, jointly funded by the American Austrian Foundation (AAF) and the Max Kade Foundation, offers a one-month clinical-exchange in Austria or the United States for American and Austrian medical students from our partnering medical schools. The program aims to supplement the students’ education and broaden their experience by exposing them to a foreign culture and healthcare system.

American students
American students may participate during their fourth year of study. Rotations in Austria differs from the U.S. , as they are largely unstructured and require students to take more initiative to communicate with doctors and residents. In addition to the daily rotation, the clerkship offers a broad social event program, including joint meetings with our Open Medical Institute (OMI) observers (physicians practicing in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, who are invited for a month-long clinical or research observership). This gives students the opportunity to learn about healthcare not only in Austria, but also in countries in transition.

The Max Kade Clinical Clerkship provides a travel stipend, pocket money, as well as accommodation during a one-month rotation in Vienna, Austria. In addition, a weekly German class is offered to the participants. The fellowship does not cover meals or incidental expenses. If you plan to travel on weekends, you should have personal funds available.

Austrian students
The Max Kade Clinical Clerkship Program in the U.S. offers Austrian medical students the possibility to experience how first-hand medicine is practiced and taught at leading American medical universities. The Anglo-American didactics significantly differs from the teaching methods at Austrian universities, which provides students with a new perspective on medical education and learning methods. The Max Kade Clinical Clerkship provides a travel scholarship and a medical rotation in the U.S. Students must cover all additional expenses themselves. Please refer to the Experience Guide for information and recommendations from former Max Kade fellows.

Clerkships are available at the following institutions:

• Cornell University – Weill Cornell Medicine and its affiliated hospitals in New York City
  For further information please visit: https://international.weill.cornell.edu/
• George Washington University – School of Medicine & Health Sciences, in Washington, D.C.
  For further information please visit: http://smhs.gwu.edu/academics/md-program/visiting-students
• University of Pennsylvania – School of Medicine in Philadelphia
  For further information please visit: http://www.med.upenn.edu/globalhealth/international-trainees-scholars.html

Humes Visiting Professorships

The Humes Visiting Professorship Program was established to strengthen the relationship between American and Austrian Open Medical Institute (OMI) faculty, who jointly conduct the OMI seminar program. This bilateral exchange is awarded annually by a committee of experts (AAF Medical Steering Committee and AAF Board of Trustees) and must be completed within five years of acceptance. Only a course director and the corresponding co-course director of an OMI seminar are eligible for the program. Furthermore, at least three residents and attending physicians from the award recipients’ institutions should also visit each other through the Andlinger Residency Exchange Program.

Humes Visiting Professors visit each other’s institutions and give a minimum of two lectures on cutting edge developments in their field, grand rounds with residents and attending physicians, and a session with case presentations. Recipients schedule the visit themselves and submit the schedule to the American Austrian Foundation (AAF) for documentation purposes. It is hoped that the Humes Visiting Professorships will lead to activities between the academic institutions beyond the five-year period. The AAF will support such activities on a case by case basis.

The program is a bequest by the estate of the late AAF trustee and Cornell Medical University graduate, Dr. Jean Humes, in memory of her husband, John P. Humes, a former U.S. ambassador to Austria and the first president of the AAF. Since its inception in 1990, 49 Humes Visiting Professorships have been awarded in multiple medical specialties.