Fellow
The Emergency Medicine (EM) health policy fellowship was designed to cultivate future emergency physician leaders in health policy, and is available for future leaders who have a desire to affect positive change and improvements within the healthcare system. The fellowship not only provides opportunities for emergency physicians to acquire the skills to advocate for the betterment of patients within the healthcare system, but also for the profession and practice of EM and health care delivery.
Why a Health Policy Fellowship?
If you have a desire to advocate for your patients and become involved in the development of policy while increasing your academic opportunities, this is the fellowship for you. Health policy fellowships offer opportunities to develop your leadership abilities and prepare you for working with national organizations to affect positive change on EM practice and patient care in healthcare systems.
Benefits of a Health Policy Fellowship
The fellowship offers opportunities that would be otherwise difficult to obtain on your own. Fellowships offer structured rotations and internships with Congressional Officials, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), state and local departments of health, as well as advocacy firms. Health policy fellowships have established relationships with these programs and will be much easier for you to find connections into these offices.
How to be a Competitive Candidate
To be competitive, a candidate should first show enthusiasm and interest in the field of health policy. Further, a candidate should demonstrate this interest and enthusiasm by exploring the issues facing our healthcare system, such as involvement in advocacy days, electives, or research in health policy. If you need ideas on how to get involved, check out the RESOURCES page.
Certifications and Additional Training
While there are some resident training programs such as the Emergency Medicine Residents' Association (EMRA) Health Policy Academy, there are no specific certifications that applicants can seek out. A Masters in Business Administration and Public Health do add value to the applicant, as does scholarly activity directed to quality assurance projects and administration.
Duties of a Health Policy Fellow
The health policy fellow will have clinical responsibilities in an academic emergency department (ED) and may or may not have the opportunity to supervise residents. Fellows will be provided an internship component as part of their fellowship where fellows will be embedded into health advocacy teams such as in the Office of Legislators or other health policy organizations. Fellows will also attend journal clubs discussing health policy literature, research, and the issues currently facing healthcare systems. Fellows will also have the opportunity to attend networking events to establish future career opportunities within the health policy field.
Duties of a Health Policy Attending
The role of a health policy-trained attending is not well-defined, which provides both challenges and opportunities. The role varies dramatically as does approval from the Chair of an academic institution. As such, health policy attendings should negotiate protected time to work on health policy projects, apply for grants that support this time or work, and serve in an education or mentorship role for residents and medical students who desire to work in health policy. Additionally, attendings may find other means of supplementing their income by working in health policy-related organizations in addition to their academic roles. Health policy-trained attendings work in a variety of roles, including: health services or public health commissioners, research, pharmaceutical advocacy organizations, sit on boards of advocacy offices, author policy pieces for organizations or newspapers, and can serve as spokespersons for the hospital or news agencies.