Health Policy Fellowship

Are you interested in a career in health policy? Have you considered formal training through an academic fellowship? You may be interested to know that some medical schools offer a health policy fellowship for primary care physicians. Here's an example from the UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School:

his program is a unique, practical opportunity for family physicians, as well as other primary care physicians, to learn how state health policy is developed, and how laws and regulations governing health care are crafted, negotiated and implemented. Applicants are typically interested in health policy-making and in influencing the political process as it relates to health care.

The health policy fellow serves as both aide and advisor to the Chairperson of a New Jersey State Legislative Health Committee. The fellow has a unique opportunity to obtain hands-on experience informing the policymaking process. An emphasis is placed on the rigorous, day-to-day aspects of the legislative process in the dynamic environment of the State House. The health policy fellow is called upon to: critically evaluate legislation; prepare briefs and reports; advise members of the State Legislature; research complex health care problems; devise legislative solutions; interact with and assist constituents with health care concerns and problems; and represent the legislator's views at meetings and functions. Upon conclusion of the fellowship, the participants have developed a practical and comprehensive understanding of the legislative process and health care policy in New Jersey.

This fellowship is offered jointly by the Department of Family Medicine at UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Faculty preceptors include the health policy faculty in the Department of Family Medicine and the executive staff of the University Hospital. The current Chairpersons of the Senate and Assembly Health Committees serve as the direct supervisors of the fellows.

You can learn more here: http://www2.umdnj.edu/fmedweb/fellowships/health_policy.htm