The Society of Participatory Medicine (SPM) patient travel award is designed to help patient and caregiver members of the Society to attend conferences and share their story. The award is intended to help with travel expenses (e.g., hotel, transportation, meal(s), or other travel-related costs) up to $599 per year.  In exchange, we request that award recipients either post to social media or blog on the Society’s website about the conference and their experience. Limited to one travel award per calendar year.

All applications must be submitted through the form on our website (https://participatorymedicine.org/about/patient-travel-scholarships/ ). Once your application is reviewed, you will be notified within 21 calendar days as to whether your application has been accepted, and the amount of the award.

In exchange for the travel award, we require awardees to document and share their experiences in at least one medium: a blog post, or posting on social media about the conference and your experiences.

• Please fill out the Travel Award Application form completely & accurately
• You must be a member in good standing of the Society for at least one (1) month before applying
• You must be at least 18 years old
• You can only apply on behalf of yourself
• You must have access to a computer or smartphone
• You agree to submit at least one of the following within 30 days after the conference:
  • A blog post of at least 600 words to the Society’s blog about your conference takeaways: blog@participatorymedicine.org
  • At least 5 social media posts about the conference and what you learned on one of the major social media platforms (either X, LinkedIn, BlueSky, TikTok, or Facebook; these posts can be made during the conference). Each post should include the note, “Travel support provided by the Society for #ParticipatoryMedicine #s4pm”
  • Failure to meet this requirement will disqualify the applicant from future award grants for three (3) years
• Your grant request must be for $599 or less
• Only one award per person/household per every one (1) year will be granted if the other guidelines are met

All award applications will be reviewed by the Travel Award Application Committee on an as-needed basis, and decisions rendered within 21 days from the submission date. The Travel Award Application Committee’s decision for approval or rejection of an award application is final. No monies are guaranteed to be awarded upon a completed application. Void where prohibited.

Only one travel award will be awarded by our organization per household per every one (1) year. Please do not apply again if you’ve already been awarded a grant in the past year, as your application will be rejected.