All individuals interested in Fellowship in the Academy must be nominated by a Fellow of the Academy and seconded by one additional Fellow.

All nominations for Fellowship are reviewed by the Committee on Admission and Membership of the Academy. The Committee submits its recommendations to the Board of Trustees for final approval and election to Fellowship in the Academy.

The application process consists of the following procedures:

Candidates must fully complete the online application.

1. The candidate’s curriculum vitae, to be uploaded in the “attachments” section, must include:

  • Academic degrees, names of schools, and dates of attendance
  • Medical school or other professional school, and year of graduation, internships, including hospital names and addresses
  • Residencies, including hospital names and addresses
  • Other postgraduate training, including Fellowships
  • Specialty/subspecialty certifications, including dates
  • Teaching and hospital appointments
  • Current professional and scientific organization memberships
  • Publications
  • Honors and awards
  • Community and civic activities or interests

2. Two letters (one nominating and one seconding) from current Academy Fellows who know and are qualified to comment on the Fellowship candidate’s application. The letters should address the candidate’s professional qualifications and accomplishments and his/her practice or research contributions to such areas as public health, urban health, health/medical professional organizations, and health/medical interdisciplinary initiatives. It is strongly encouraged that at least one letter come from outside the applicant’s organization. 

Candidates will need to obtain and upload these letters to their online application in the “attachments” section in order to complete and submit their application for consideration.

3. Once the complete application has been received (including the online application, curriculum vitae, and a total of two letters of recommendation from the nominating Fellow and one seconding Fellow), it will be forwarded to the Committee on Admission and Membership for review.  Their recommendations will then be sent to the Board of Trustees for final approval and election to Fellowship.

4. The Committee on Admission and Membership may consider both physicians and non-physicians as candidates for Fellowship. Physicians shall be graduates of at least 10 years standing from a medical school, and shall show evidence of excellence in one or several of the physician's multiple roles, such as caregiver, teacher, scientist, or citizen. This shall be evidenced by such criteria as specialty certification, involvement in professional organizations and outstanding clinical, administrative, teaching, or research contributions to the health care field. Non-physician candidates for Fellowship shall be graduates of at least 10 years standing of an academic institution and shall show evidence of high professional attainments in a health-related field. All candidates for Fellowship must show evidence of personal integrity.

5. In order that the Committee on Admission and Membership may arrive at an appropriate decision, each person will be asked to comment on a candidate based on the following criteria.  The Committee has the right to request an interview or further written material from the candidate or nominators.

  • Certification by one or another of the appropriate Specialty Boards or equivalent entity (generally expected)
  • Active involvement in the affairs of medical or professional organizations
  • Active participation in the health-related affairs of the community, unrelated to income-producing professional activities
  • Outstanding clinical contributions to medical services (including exemplary practice)
  • Outstanding administrative contributions to medical services
  • Outstanding contributions in health or science policy
  • Outstanding contributions to the teaching programs in a hospital, medical school, or other academic institution
  • Outstanding contributions to research and/or publication of scholarly articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals
  • Other special awards, honors, and additional activities

6. Exceptional candidates who do not fulfill certain of the above requirements may be considered on an individual basis or may be recommended for Membership.

7. The Committee on Admission and Membership will not reconsider the names of candidates who were nominated but not approved, the preceding year. This two-year requirement will allow time for candidates being renominated to develop further or add to their qualifications. While waivers are possible, there should be compelling reasons for such requests, and these should be adequately documented.

The Guidelines for Election to Fellowship were adopted on March 26, 2002, by the Committee on Admission and Membership of The New York Academy of Medicine.

Dues Structure


The Academy has a Fellowship dues structure established by the Board of Trustees. Regular annual dues for Resident Fellows, defined as those having an office or residence within 150 miles of the Academy, are currently $250. Dues for Non-Resident Fellows are $175.

The dues structure allows the Academy to provide the Fellows with a number of services and opportunities, and helps support Academy activities and educational initiatives in numerous areas including public health, health policy, urban epidemiology, biomedical science, health services research, and information management.

For further information, please contact:
Office of Trustee & Fellowship Affairs
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10029-5293
212.822.7367
Fellows@NYAM.org