Awards, Financial Aid & Research Funding Opportunities

Supporting tomorrow’s clinician-scientists

MD/PhD Tuition

The tuition is $5,735.40 per year, payable in 3 instalments of $1,911.80 per year for the entire timeline of the program. This fee is charged in place of, rather than in addition to, the MD-only program tuition fee (currently $19,995.42 per year), representing a very significant savings.

MD/PhD Studentships

All MD/PhD students receive an annual student stipend through the MD/PhD Program (effective September 2021, the minimum annual stipend is $27,000, renewable each year for a maximum of 6 years and four months). Students are still required to apply for funding from external granting agencies such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Diabetes Association, Kidney Foundation, Canadian Lung Association and other organizations during the second and/or third years of their MD/PhD Program.

The MD/PhD Program is thankful for stipend funding support from important UBC affiliated partners — BC Cancer, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Providence Health Care Research Institute (St. Paul’s Hospital) and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.

With the help of the UBC Faculty of Medicine Development and Alumni Engagement Office, the MD/PhD Program receives generous funding support from private donors. These include:

1. 1. The UBC

Faculty of Medicine Clinician Investigator Studentship

1. . This 6-year MD/PhD studentship is offered to a top-ranked applicant.

1. 2. One 6-year MD/PhD studentship is funded by the UBC’s largest endowment for students in the program, thanks to a $6-million donation from the Faculty of Medicine’s first two members —

Constance Livingstone-Friedman and Sydney Friedman

1. . This studentship provides on-going support and was first assigned in 2018.

1. 3. The Mr. Naotaka Ide MD/PhD Studentship in Dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease Research. The donor is Mrs. Noriko Ide, who set up this studentship in memory of her late husband Mr. Naotaka Ide, to support a student with an interest in dementia, Alzheimer or neurodegenerative disease research. This studentship is made on the recommendation of the MD/PhD Admissions Committee. The first studentship was assigned in 2021.

4. Dr. Anthony Chow MD-PhD Studentship. This studentship was established by the UBC MD/PhD Founding Director, Dr. Anthony Chow, to support an incoming student in the program as designated by the directors of the MD/PhD Program. The first studentship was assigned in 2020.

President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award (PAIEPA)

Award values per student per year is approximately:
– $1,300 per year for students being assessed full tuition fees
– $600 per year for students being assessed continuing tuition fees

All MD/PhD students are assigned this funding in three instalments – each instalment is 1/3 of the total annual amount, assigned at the beginning of each term (September, January and May) of the academic year. No application is required.

Graduate Support Initiative Awards

Graduate Support Initiative Awards (GSI) is a system for funding graduate students. Eligibility for the GSI awards follows existing Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies practices, complete details of which can be found on the G+PS webpage.

Criteria by which GSI funds are allocated in the MD/PhD Program (after prior endorsement from the G+PS) are:

1. 1) These funds will be evenly given to incoming MD/PhD students of each academic year in form of an “entrance award” as a recruitment incentive.

2) No application is required. GSI funding will be assigned on the Student Information System Centre for disbursement to students.

Other Funding Opportunities

For a compendium of awards available for UBC graduate students, see see the Awards webpage of the Faculty of Medicine and the Awards and Financial Aid page of the Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral (G+PS) website.  For a compendium of opportunities for research funding, please visit the Office of Research Services (ORS) website.

Award Recipients

The UBC MD/PhD students have excellent results in external funding competitions. Congratulations to all the recipients and their research supervisors for the outstanding results!

UBC Four Year Doctoral Fellowship
2021 – Katherine Baillie, Shayda Swann, Joyce Zhang
2020 – Andy An, Katrina Besler, Rohit Singla, Maryam Vaseghi-Shanjani, Li Qing Wang
2019 – Lianne Cho, Daniel Kwon, Wissam Nassrallah
2018 – Jennifer Ji, Mark Trinder, Alvin Qiu
2017 – Paulina Piesik
2016 – Victoria Baronas, Cynthia Ye, Allen Zhang
2015 – Rozlyn Boutin, Parker Jobin, Frank Lee, Adam Ramzy, Michael Skinnider, Jordan Squair
2014 – Andrea Jones, Victor Li, David Twa
2013 – Daniel Woodsworth, Eric Zhao
2012 – Gareth Mercer, Cynthia Min, Julia Pon, Alexander Wright
2011 – Michael Copley, Philip Edgcumbe
2010 – William Guest, Long Nguyen
2009 – David McVea, Clara Westwell-Roper

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship

Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award (CGS-D)
2021 – Andy An, Luke MacLean
2020 – Reid Vassallo
2019 – Daniel Kwon
2016 – Cynthia Ye
2015 – Jordan Squair
2014 – Cynthia Min
2013 – Daniel Woodsworth

Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s Award (CGS-M)
2021 – Lianne Cho, Li Qing Wang
2020 – Katherine Baillie, Dhiraj Mannar
2019 – Andy An, Katrina Besler
2017 – Alvin Qiu
2016 – Rozlyn Boutin, Michael Skinnider
2015 – Victoria Baronas, Allen Zhang
2014 – Parker Jobin, Eric Zhao
2012 – Philip Edgcumbe, Daniel Woodsworth
2010 – Long Nguyen

Canada Graduate Scholarships – Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement Award
2020 – Mark Trinder
2019 – Michael Skinnider
2018 – Allen Zhang
2017 – Jordan Squair
2012 – Gareth Mercer

CIHR Scriver MD/PhD Scholarship
2010 – Julia Pon
2005 – Fiona Young

Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
2021 – Andy An
2017 – Michael Skinnider
2016 – Jordan Squair
2015 – David Twa