Dear Residency Applicants,
On behalf of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), we are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the SAMS Scholarship Program for this year.
The SAMS Scholarship Program offers monetary loans to selected applicants to help cover financial needs. Awardees are expected to repay their interest-free loans upon matching into residency. If an awardee does not match in a residency program, the loan will be forgiven unless he or she matches at a later time.
To be eligible for this interest-free loan, you must be a Syrian medical school graduate or a Syrian national who graduated from a foreign medical school, and you must be applying for the ERAS Match this year.
You must also have all of the following:
• Very good English proficiency (measured by face-to-face or phone interview)
• Passed USMLE Step 1
• Minimum score of 220 on USMLE Step 2
• ECFMG certificate
• Demonstrated need for financial assistance
Required documents:
• USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 score reports
• ECFMG certificate
• Copy of medical school diploma
• Copy of first page of passport
• Copy of valid U.S. visa or status
• Personal photo
• Updated curriculum vitae
Important dates:
• September 6, 2025: Enrollment opens
• November–December 2025: Phone interviews
• January 2026: Announcement of awardees
• February 2026: Checks mailed
Please note that applying to the SAMS Scholarship Program does not guarantee receiving the interest-free loan, as this is a very competitive process with limited resources. However, the SAMS Scholarship Committee will do its best to support all eligible applicants.
To apply for this interest-free loan, please forward all required documents to scholarship@sams-usa.net.
We look forward to welcoming you as a colleague soon.
— SAMS Scholarship Committee