The Department of Internal Medicine Residency Program encourages residents to become active members in national academic/research societies by funding residents to attend local, regional, and national conferences as presenters of their own research. The following guidelines should be followed to facilitate these educational opportunities:
If you have any travel or publication related questions, please contact Jenika in the Housestaff office at 352-265-0239 or Jenika.Christmas@medicine.ufl.edu
Requirements to Receive Funding for Travel
If a Resident is asked to present academic material at a regional or national meeting, funding for travel and accommodations should first be requested through the Resident’s research mentor.
If funds are not available, advance notice of travel must be given at least 60 days prior desired travel dates to the Housestaff administrative handling travel. The Chief Residents must also give approval for appropriate coverage. Travel submitted with anything less than a 30 day notice will not be approved.
There is no funding currently for international travel.
A request for travel should include a Gatorade Funding Request form. This form can be found in the Housestaff Office, on the residency program Google Drive, or the Google website. A Gatorade Funding Request form along with a copy of the Resident’s abstract and acceptance notification to the conference must be turned in and approved before travel arrangements can be made.
For funding coverage, the presented abstract cannot be one previously presented by another resident or medical student. The Resident requesting travel support must be the main presenter of the abstract to receive funding.
All Gatorade funding is based on a first come first serve basis.
Staff can assist with payment of registration, hotel, and airfare. Charges associated with changing reservations if made on the Housestaff PCard will be the Resident’s responsibility to pay.
Multiple people traveling to the same conference may be required to share a hotel room with a resident of the same gender. Travel should be limited to the dates you are presenting, generally the night before and the night after presenting. Any extra dates before or after the conference will be the Resident’s responsibility. If travel is to be done in a different time span, please contact Jenika Christmas in the medicine office (Jenika.Christmas@medicine.ufl.edu) to coordinate a cost comparison.
Residents must abide by what is budgeted on the Gatorade Funding Request. If the resident exceeds the budgeted funding they may be required to pay out of pocket for additional costs.
ALL REQUEST FORMS MUST BE TYPED. Handwritten forms will not be accepted.
Travel FAQ
Meals are paid at a per diem rate of $36 per day: $6 for breakfast, $11 for lunch, and $19 for dinner. If a conference or hotel provides any of these meals you will not be reimbursed. Receipts are not required for food.
Rental cars can be arranged if found to be more cost efficient. A rental car must be reserved through the Housestaff office to ensure the correct vendor is utilized. The Department has an account with Enterprise, please contact Jenika Christmas in the medicine office (Jenika.Christmas@medicine.ufl.edu) for assistance with booking car rentals.
Airbnb services are banned for official state business travel and cannot be reimbursed.
Requirements to Receive Funding for Publications
If you wish to publish, we have a departmental account with BMJ Case Reports. The submission code is 201574. This is something we pay yearly so that you may submit case reports.
Per the new departmental guidelines, case reports are no longer eligible for Gatorade funding.
“Timeliness of Travel Reimbursements.”
Beginning July 1, 2018, any travel reimbursements after 60 days are now taxable income. Below is the verbiage from the UF memo on it.
1. Employee must adequately account for the expenses within a reasonable time, defined by IRS Publication 463 as no later than 60 days after the expenses were paid or after the date of return from travel.
2. If expense reimbursements are not submitted and approved within the 60 day limit, the amount ultimately paid to the employee will be included in the employee’s annual W-2 as taxable income.
https://news.hr.ufl.edu/news/new-irs-publication-requires-employee-expenses-be-submitted-within-60-days-for-reimbrsement/