VA Quality Scholars Fellowship Program

Our Mission:

The mission of this advanced fellowship program is to offer scholars opportunities to be leaders who can accomplish the following:  

  • Apply knowledge and methods of health care improvement to the care of veterans  
  • Innovate and continually improve health care  
  • Teach health professionals about health care improvement  
  • Perform research and develop new knowledge for the ongoing improvement of the quality and value of health care services 

This two-year fellowship is sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and includes 11 sites across the United States. Each site in the U.S. is a partnership between a VA hospital and an academic institution, including Vanderbilt. 

Upon completing this advanced program, fellows will be able to demonstrate competence in:  

  • Designing and creating change for the improvement of healthcare  
  • Designing, conducting and writing/publishing a research project on healthcare improvement efforts  
  • Leading healthcare professionals in improvement efforts

Learn more at the VA website here 

  • Completion of an ACGME accredited postgraduate medical residency  
  • The desire to pursue a medical career with a focus on quality improvement, health services research or medical administration  
  • The ability to appreciate and leverage the benefits of coordination of clinical medicine, research and administration  
  • The desire to help lead the VA in the 21st century as a change agent  
  • The capacity for interactive skills necessary to create change in institutions  
  • Board certification or eligibility and an active, unrestricted license to practice in the U.S. 

Physician applicants must have a strong desire to lead the study of health care improvement. Applicants must be board eligible (any specialty is welcome), hold a valid, unrestricted state medical license, and have U.S. citizenship.

Nurse applicants must be accepted into a DNP, PhD or postdoctoral training program and have a desire to learn how to do, lead, or study health care improvement. Applicants must hold an active, unrestricted license to practice and have US citizenship. 

Contact us: 

Robert Dittus, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine
Program Director, VA Quality Scholars Fellowship Program
robert.dittus@vumc.org

Program Leadership


Robert Dittus, MD, MPH

Professor of Medicine
Program Director, VA Quality Scholars Fellowship Program