IPA and Regional Paediatric Societies:

Search for “International Pediatric Association scholarship” and you will find pages that imply one exists. We went to IPA’s own publications to check, and the honest answer is more useful than the one you were looking for.

What the IPA is, and what it is not

The International Pediatric Association is a federation of national and regional pediatric societies, not a funding body.

We read IPA’s own 2026 newsletter looking for awards, grants, scholarships and travel support. It lists courses, congresses, projects and member society events, and no award with an amount, an eligibility rule or a deadline anywhere in it.

That is not a failing. It is what a federation does. IPA builds the network, runs education and sets direction. The money sits with its members.

Understanding that single point saves you months of searching in the wrong place.

What IPA does give you, at no cost

Two things, and both are worth your time this month.

The IPA-ACS HPV online course. Seven modules, with an eighth on single-dose HPV vaccination in preparation, and Spanish and French translations planned. Registration runs through IPA’s website. Pakistan already appears among the participating countries, so this is a door that is demonstrably open to you.

The Vaccines to Vaccination project. IPA ran its V2V workshop for the Asia Pacific region in Bangkok on 28 and 29 March 2026, with Pakistani participation.

Neither pays you anything. Both put your name in a room, and in professional societies that is how the rest of it starts.

The structure, which is the actual map

Think of three levels.

At the top, the IPA, global, running education, congresses and advocacy. Its next International Congress of Pediatrics goes to Kigali, through ipacongress.org.

In the middle, the regional bodies. For you that is the Asia Pacific Pediatric Association, formed in 1974 as the Association of Pediatric Societies of the South-East Asian Region and renamed APPA in 2003. Membership runs by national association rather than by individual.

At the bottom, the national societies, which is where the actual fellowships, congresses and awards live.

Pakistan sits inside this structure already. APPA’s member list names the Pakistan Pediatric Association alongside Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Macau, Mongolia and Laos.

The three fellowships worth knowing about

APPA’s own fellowship listing names three, each offered by a member society.

1. The Division of Pediatrics, Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Annual, twelve months.

2. The Malaysian Pediatric Association. Annual, six months in Malaysia, running since 1998.

3. The Taiwan Pediatric Association. Annual, six months in Taiwan, running since 2001.

Look at what those three have in common. All sit in countries a Pakistani doctor can realistically enter, all run annually, and two have run for more than two decades, which suggests genuine institutional commitment rather than a one-off announcement.

Now the warning, and please take it seriously.

APPA’s website is visibly out of date. The page listing those fellowships also carries a congress history that stops at 2003. APPA’s events page gives the 20th Asia Pacific Congress of Pediatrics 2028 a date of “January 01-31, 2028”, which is plainly a placeholder rather than a real date.

So treat these three as leads, not listings. Write to each society directly and ask whether the fellowship still runs, what it pays, who may apply and when it opens. Our guide on writing to a professor or institution covers how to make a short enquiry that actually gets answered.

Where the congresses are

The 19th Asia Pacific Congress of Pediatrics took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 26 to 29 July 2026, hosted by the Sri Lanka College of Pediatricians at the BMICH. That one has concluded.

The 20th runs in 2028, with APPA’s listing pointing towards Bangkok and giving no reliable date yet.

IPA’s own International Congress of Pediatrics goes to Kigali, with details through the congress site.

For congress funding itself, the pattern from other specialties applies here too. Our post on the World Physiotherapy congress bursaries shows how delegate bursaries usually work: a lower-middle income country plus membership of a member organization, with an application window that opens quietly. Ask APPA and your own association whether anything equivalent exists for pediatrics, because nothing we read says either way.

The step most pediatricians skip

Every route described here runs through your national association’s membership, exactly as the anesthesia and physiotherapy routes do. Our posts on the WFSA Fellowship Programme and the World Physiotherapy congress bursaries show the same structure in two other professions.

So the single most valuable thing you can do this week costs a membership fee and an email. Join or renew with the Pakistan Pediatric Association, then write and ask three questions: which regional fellowships PPA can nominate members for, whether PPA holds a travel fund for congresses, and who in PPA handles APPA matters.

The person who answers that email is worth more to your career than any list on the internet, including this one.

Step-by-step

Step 1, this week: confirm your PPA membership is current, or join.

2, this week: write to PPA with the three questions above.

Step 3, this week: register for the IPA-ACS HPV course. Free, online, and Pakistan already participates.

4, November: write to the three fellowship societies — the RACP Division of Pediatrics, the Malaysian Pediatric Association and the Taiwan Pediatric Association — and ask whether each fellowship still runs, what it covers and when it opens.

5, November: ask APPA’s secretariat whether any travel grants or awards exist for the 2028 congress, and whether the fellowship list is current.

Step 6, December: build the standard file, because every one of these routes asks for the same things: a CV, a letter from your head of department and a national society endorsement. Our free CV builder handles the first.

Step 7, through 2027: publish something. As with the WHF Emerging Leaders Programme, a publication record is what separates applicants when a society picks one candidate per country.

FAQ

Does the International Pediatric Association offer scholarships?

No. Its own publications list courses, congresses and projects, and no award with an amount, eligibility or deadline.

Then what does IPA offer?

Free online education, including the IPA-ACS HPV course, plus congresses, projects and the network of member societies.

Where does pediatric funding actually sit?

With regional bodies like APPA and with national societies, which run their own fellowships and awards.

Is Pakistan part of this structure?

Yes. APPA’s member list names the Pakistan Pediatric Association.

Which fellowships does APPA list?

Three: the RACP Division of Pediatrics in Australia for twelve months, the Malaysian Pediatric Association for six months since 1998, and the Taiwan Pediatric Association for six months since 2001.

Are those fellowships still running?

Verify before planning. APPA’s website carries clearly outdated content elsewhere, so treat the list as a lead.

How much do they pay?

No amount appears on APPA’s listing. Ask each society.

Where is the next Asia Pacific Congress of Pediatrics?

The 19th was in Colombo from 26 to 29 July 2026 and has concluded. The 20th runs in 2028, with Bangkok indicated and no reliable date published yet.

Where is IPA’s own congress?

Kigali, through the IPA congress site.

Does APPA give an award?

It lists the Outstanding Asian Pediatricians Award, with recipients from 2003 to 2024. Whether nominations are currently open is not stated.

What is the single best first step?

Confirm your Pakistan Pediatric Association membership and email them about regional fellowship nominations.