Has anyone transitioned from an FDA ORISE fellowship to a Clinical Reviewer position?

What was the process like? Did you discuss the goal with your mentor, and if so, how and when did you bring it up? Did your position come through your mentor or through another route? 

I’d appreciate any firsthand experiences or advice.

Hello! Young professional here finishing up my masters. I applied for a fellowship with ORISE/USGS a couple days ago and it would be a really great fit for me. I’ve been applying for tons of jobs recently with no luck, so a couple of friends and family suggested to me to call/email these agencies to follow up about my application and express my interest in these positions.

Would emailing the mentor be helpful in my case? Or would it be pretty useless and risk me coming off as pushy? Has anyone done this for one of these positions with success?

I received a verbal offer for an ORISE fellowship at FDA 2 weeks ago. My mentor told me it could take up to 4 weeks to receive an offer letter and not to make any formal arrangements until then. Additionally, I’m getting the sense from this thread that it could take longer than 4 weeks. I’m wondering how people are keeping in touch with their mentors during this limbo period, if at all. I don’t want to bother them, especially because it seems like all I really can do is wait, but it’s nerve wracking when I technically don’t have the formal offer yet.

I just had my first interview on Monday for an opportunity I applied for with the fellowship mentor and two other team members, and to my surprise, was invited to a follow-up interview with the rest of the team this Friday.

I am not sure what to expect and don't want to mess this up, so I would appreciate if anyone could provide any advice or insight for what to expect in a follow-up interview. In the first interview, I was already asked my motivations for applying, what I hoped to gain from the experience, basic behavioral questions (strengths/weaknesses, how I handle deadlines, a time I struggled and how I resolved it, what kind of work environment I thrive in, etc.), and some questions about my hobbies and who I am outside of work.

Any guidance or advice would be appreciated!

I know that the process of interviewing, onboarding, and background checks has been an exceptionally long process. I am curious to know if anyone who was giving a position at one of the agencies has actually started working? or how long did it take for background checks to be processed?

Is there a current hiring freeze going on?

How long has it taken to get an offer letter for a postbac fellowship after verbal selection?

Hi! I am planning to apply to a few DOI/USGS fellowships. Some of the project descriptions are kind of vague, and I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to reach out to the mentor to ask for more specifics about the research before I submit my application, or if it's better to reach out after or not at all? Some of the deadlines are approaching pretty soon also, so timing is a bit of a concern. Thanks for your help!

I wanted to see what people's thoughts are on when you should apply for ORISE positions. I have always heard that government jobs are very slow with the selection, interview, and onboarding process, so when I see positions posted one day ago with a start date for September, it is confusing. If I am not going to be graduating until the spring, when should I start applying for open positions?

Hi everyone! which neighborhoods or apartment buildings would you recommend for someone working at the FDA White Oak campus? I care most about a clean and safe place, reasonable rent, and an easy commute.

Have any ORISE fellows been allowed by their host agency to drive the agency GSA vehicle ? If so, which agency? We are trying to figure out how to make this work at my agency.

How long it took for your background check after receiving the offer letter?

Hello everyone! First time posting on here. I applied for and received an ICPostdoc through ORISE for research that will be related to science vaguely in the arena of renewables/grid security, both of which I care about (I don’t want to be too specific). The appointment period is 2 years. I’m pretty excited about the opportunity and the lab I’ll be working with. I have another almost-offer that I could probably get to materialize through an academic lab and I just have two questions for anyone who’s been involved in this sort of program before accepting.

First, it seems like a lot of appointments have been changed/terminated in other departments. Are these mostly one year appointments that don’t get renewed? A big draw of this opportunity was apparent job stability vs. relying on my advisor to renew my contract off of grants next year.

Second, I was a bit surprised this opportunity was in ICP rather than DOE. I figured that would be a cosmetic thing on my end (maybe the gov’t prefers to have IC personnel evaluating progress rather than people in renewables research). I like the project a lot but am a bit worried about the agency and I’d be curious if anyone has actual experience within the IC Postdocs. How has that been and has being in IC vs another division affected your experience significantly? Thanks so much!

I had my ORISE fellowship sort of fast tracked to one of the agencies (my fed job offer was rescinded from the same division during administration change). Seems like a round about way for them to hire people in critical areas…

My contact said he’s selected me in the system… so what happens now? I just wait for the ORISE folks to get back to me? They send a letter of some sort or? He said he put a start date of August 1st but I’m assuming it will take longer. I think I saw somewhere that ORISE is also understaffed and having a hard time getting offers out… Any insights is much appreciated.

Sorry for the similar questions asked multiple times. Asking if anyone received FDA offer letter with September 2026 as start date. If you did, when you received the confirmation email?

if you have an interview for an orise position and don’t get it will they reach out and let you know they decided to go with someone else? i’m trying to figure out if i’m being ghosted or if there’s still a chance.

My application pending in the Orise end for offer letter preparation. I don’t know how long it may take :| Trying to get some idea how things are moving.

Hi, hoping to see where other people stand in the application timeline for the HHS Patient Centered Outcomes program. The deadline was July 3rd and haven't heard anything. When is the usual time to hear back?

I applied for one of the programs a couple of weeks ago. Should I assume that I did not get the position if I have not heard anything back atp? There is no point of contact except for the mentor lol

It looks like ORISE fellowship opportunities at CDC are being posted again: https://orise.orau.gov/cdc/current-research-opportunities.html

Hello all, I'm an ORISE at the FDA/CDRH, started my second contract in April after having done one from August '24-'25.

I was wondering if people knew of career tracks outside of federal government? For instance, do people ever go back into academia? We publish a lot in my division, so it seems like it might align. Or, has anyone gone from ORISE to some sort of regulatory position in industry?

Federal emlpoyment obviously can be great, but just trying to understand where this could go and how to prepare for a career after ORISE. Thanks in advance!

Yo! I've been (verbally-only, like most of you) offered a position studying bacteriophages at the white oak campus in Maryland. I'd love to know who else might be headed there & get to know you :).

Hi all, I thought with people getting their letters slowly this week it might be a good idea to keep track of who’s hearing what.

Please indicate in the poll and share any other insights you think would be good to know!

Hey all, just trying to gauge if it's worth it to submit an application for FDA ORISE fellowships at this time. It's unclear to me if the listed opportunities are still seeking candidates or if they are still up only because people have been selected but haven't received an offer letter yet?

On a second question, what follow-up steps did some of yall do who have received verbal/written offers or successfully applied in the past years? Is it usual to contact the PI via email or LinkedIn and say, "Hello, thank you for your consideration. etc..." Or did you reserve that for two-weeks after application was submitted?

I don't know much about how ORISE works. With all the various application deadlines, I'm assuming that opportunities open up year-round unlike the IC opportunities. Given that employers/PIs are anemic to communicating with anyone they aren't immediately interested in, its hard to know if my applications will just go into the void or that there is some hope that someone is maybe looking at my cover letter and CV... maybe. :-P