“It is all about mentorship!”– Professor David Ring, Boston 2003

The Harvard-Holland PhD Exchange program is committed to a distinctive educational opportunity for high potential PhD Candidates. You will be trained between world class Universities on two continents, and experience pearls of two very different respective training systems: coming-of-Academic-age in an Old-World traditional PhD program, and Ivy League state-of-the-art scientific research at the highest pace.

  • Unique life experience worth sharing: As a 22-year-old Medical Student, I was fortunate to land in Boston for a short-term internship, that got out of hand and became the first formal PhD Research Fellowship: I had the exceptional mentorship of Professor David Ring; was impressed by clinical excellence of patient care at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH); was inspired by Anglo-Saxon teaching at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program; and was motivated by Academic excellence at Harvard Medical School.

  • My PhD Research Fellowship grew to be a long-standing successful collaboration between the Orthopaedic Hand & Upper Extremity Service, MGH Boston USA, and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The rest is History... Generations of High-Potential short-(scientific internship-) and long-term PhD students from the Universities of Groningen, Utrecht and Rotterdam have been educated in the ‘Science Factory’ to become fully trained clinician-scientists, and indulged in an unparalleled ‘Boston-vibe’ life experience. Moreover, after crossing the Big Pond, these students got inspired by Ivy League Mentorship: Professor David Ring and A/Prof Neal Chen at the Orthopaedic Hand & Upper Limb Service, in Professor Joe Schwab’s Surgical Oncology Research Group (SORG), and currently fostered by Departmentof Orthopaedics Chair Professor Mitch Harris.

  • Harvard-Holland PhD Exchange program aims to train junior Medical Doctors (MDs), to become fully skilled–and ever curious–clinician-scientists by obtaining their PhDs degrees and become leaders in their field to inspire future generations of surgeons.

Applications

You have the opportunity to apply for a short-term scientific internship (6 months to 1-year stay in Boston), or a long-term PhD position (+1 year stay in Boston) if you have an interest in research in Orthopaedic surgery and have a significant past research experience with at least one accepted peer-reviewed article. Please submit your motivational letter, CV, written support from your Alma Mater University in Holland, and recommendation letter from your Dutch supervisor to the application via the Website. As well as your preferred supervisor and Division/ Center/ Lab at the MGH, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Admissions Process

First, your application will be reviewed by our Admissions Committee. Second, eligible students will be selected and matched to their respective Supervisor(s), Service/ Center/ Lab at MGH. An appropriate research protocol will be assigned to the candidates after discussions among them and the supervisors. In the Final Round, selected candidates will be invited to present an elevator pitch of their protocol during our Biannual Symposium (Hybrid: online from Holland and face-to-face in the Ether Dome at MGH). Applications are due Jan 7th every year, to be selected for the Biannual Symposium in the first week of February, with the start date of September 1st of the same year. Mid-term applications are due August 1st, to be selected for the Biannual Symposium on the first week of September of the same year, for the start date of March 1st of the following year.
Selected Long-Term PhD exchange students will be awarded ‘high potential PhD exchange seed money stipends’ from the home institution in the Netherlands. Receiving a base stipend from MGH should be discussed with the mentor(s)/Supervisor(s) and administration of MGH Orthopaedic Surgery Department and the specific Service/ Center/ Lab the candidate is aiming to get matched to since this is relative to various factors and is governed by MGH authorities and the Visa rules. Both MGH and Holland sponsors are encouraged to support applications for external grants and funds to support the students financially. Receiving stipends from the Additional personal grants and awards need to be applied for by individual candidates. These have been a traditional part of the program and can be applied for in the Spring (March/April) and Fall (October/November) rounds after nominees are awarded their respective positions. We encourage you to contact MHCORP alumni for more information and to share their experience and application strategies. Short-Term positions will be awarded at least 24 IEI points for an equivalent internship of at least 6 months, but are unfunded due to the obligatory character at the respective Dutch Universities. Over the past 2 decades, many high-potential students enjoyed their coming-of-Academic-age in Boston. Are you part of the next generation?

Professor Job N. Doornberg, MD, PhD

Program Director

  • Short Termer 2002

  • Long Termer 2003-2005