Office of Nursing Services (ONS)

VA Traineeship/Fellowship Programs

The VA's Quality Scholars Fellowship Program (NQSFP) provides a fellowship program in healthcare quality improvement for physician and nurse scholars. In this two-year, post-residency fellowship for physicians and pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowship for nurses, participants learn to develop and apply new knowledge for the ongoing improvement of healthcare services for VA and the nation. The curriculum includes research and clinical training in quality improvement, healthcare measurement, and systems theory. Fellows spend approximately 80 percent of their time in quality improvement research and education and approximately 20 percent in clinical activities. The Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) administers the program.

VA Advanced Fellowship in Geriatrics
This fellowship offers post-specialty education to foster the development of leadership in health care issues of older adults. The program capitalizes on the international prominence of VA's Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (GRECCs) to provide training opportunities in clinical practice, to contribute to the improvement of clinical practice, and to advance scholarly pursuits that will benefit care for older Veterans and all older Americans.

VA Interprofessional Fellowship Program in Patient Safety
The Office of Academic Affiliations and the National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS), in the Department of Veterans Affairs, offers a one year fellowship in patient safety at competitively selected VA sites. The purpose of the Interprofessional Fellowship Program in Patient Safety is to provide post-residency physicians and post masters or doctoral post degree associated health professionals in-depth education in patient safety practice and leadership.

VA Fellowship in Women’s Health
The Health Issues of Women Veterans Fellowship Program provides two years of post residency, post-doctoral research, education, and clinical learning opportunities to eligible physicians and associated health professionals. Fellows spend approximately 75 percent of their time in research and education and 25 percent in clinical care at selected VA sites. Mentors of national stature provide guidance to fellows in rich learning environments. Graduates are expected to be role models in leading, developing, conducting, and evaluating innovative research, education, and clinical care in health issues pertaining to women veterans.

VA Career Programs

The Career Development Award Program (CDA) was  established by the VA Office of Research & Development (ORD) to provide mentoring for junior researchers so they can learn from renowned, experienced VA researchers. See details and contacts for the program and links to the research services offices below.

VA Research Services

VA Research Funding

Other Funding Resources

This is not a comprehensive list, but a selection of major sources of information and funding links for researchers.

VHA Office of Research and Development RFA and Program Announcements: list of award cycles organized by service with links to proposal guidance and other resources

Funding Resources on HSR&D website: Descriptions of Centers, initiatives, programs, application guidance and Non-VA opportunities

National Association of Veterans' Research and Education Foundations (NAVREF): is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization of research and education foundations affiliated with VA medical centers. These nonprofits, also known as the VA-affiliated nonprofit research and education corporations (NPCs), are authorized by Congress under 38 USC §7361-7366 to provide flexible funding mechanisms for the conduct of research and education at VA facilities nationwide. Creating a free login account gives access to an online Foundation Directory.

National Library of Medicine Health Services Research Information Central (HSRIC): is a research portal of health services research resources providing numerous Internet links to data, funding announcements, reports, podcasts, discussion groups, and more. It is not an index of all health services resources, but contains selective links representing a sample of available information.

ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry and results database of publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants conducted around the world.