Call For Letters of Intent: Innovations to Advance Pathways and Bridges to Medicine Programs

Letters of intent are due by April 28, 2025.

Full proposal submissions are due by July 21, 2025.

NBME has a long history of contributing to the medical education and assessment communities with the goal of improving patient care through quality assessment of medical professionals. To further build on our contributions and our commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the medical and assessment professions, we are providing resources to assist programs and building collaborations that aid learners with education, mentorship and resources at a crucial time in their development. We hope to help programs develop and utilize best practices to drive positive changes in medical education in the long term and support the Association of STEMM Bridge and Pathway Programs (ASPBP) in developing a pathway program community of practice. 

Learn more about the 2024 grant recipients.

As we continue our support of pathways to medicine, NBME and ASPBP are initiating a call for applications in 2025 to continue to investigate the effectiveness of strategies that increase the representation of individuals in the medical profession. These grants are intended to support pathway programs across the entire educational continuum. Community-based, elementary to high school and higher education programs are invited to submit applications that focus on evaluating the evidence for success of a particular educational or programmatic intervention strategy.

There are two different funding opportunities: 

• SEED Grants
  • One-time grants of up to $20,000 for programs wanting to develop the foundation for a rational design of an intervention strategy or strategies. 
• Material and Resource Grants
  • One-time grants of up to $5,000 for programs wanting to improve their curriculum with needed educational resources such as learning management software, student data management software and educational or learning software. 

Eligibility to apply includes not-for-profit organizations and programs or their fiscal sponsors and not-for-profit institutions.

Initial letters of intent are due by April 28, 2025. After reviewing letters of intent, NBME will invite full proposals in early July. Full proposal applications are due by July 21, 2025. 

Interested applicants can learn more about the requirements and how to apply on NBME’s Contributions page.