Baltimore
Bay Area
Boston
Chicago
Houston
Greater Philadephia
Los Angeles
New Hampshire / Vermont
New Orleans
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
|
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
The Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows Program is a one-year interdisciplinary, mentored fellowship program focused on community service and leadership development. Students who are obtaining graduate degrees from any accredited academic institution in the San Francisco Bay Area may apply.
In addition to the goals of the U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Programs, the Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows Program aims to help Fellows:
- improve skills used for working with communities, including: approaches to community work, community outreach, community building, networking, publicity, fundraising, and advocacy;
- gain exposure to the impact of health disparities and health policies on local communities;
- learn about other health-related professions;
- improve overall capabilities for leadership in service;
- participate in a voluntary network of over 2,000 Fellows for Life who seek to include service in their personal and professional lives.
REQUIRED ACTIVITIES OF FELLOWS
|
Orientation & Retreat: |
Fellows must attend a two-night orientation retreat on April 30-May 2.
|
|
Service Project:
|
Working in collaboration with a local community agency, each Fellow must design and carry out a service project of at least 200 hours that is focused on maintaining, supporting and improving community health. Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Each Fellow will work under the supervision of a site mentor from the participating agency. The 200 hours is separate from any school course requirement. At least half of the 200 hours should be in direct, face-to-face contact with members of the community. These direct service hours do not include administrative duties, research, needs assessments or other Fellowship activities. In designing a project, potential Fellows should carefully consider the issues of evaluation and sustainability and include their ideas for addressing these aspects of the project.
|
|
Reports & Evaluations: |
Fellows submit monthly reports about their activities, a comprehensive written final report, and an evaluation about the Fellowship experience. Each Fellow’s site mentor also must complete a final evaluation.
|
|
Monthly Meetings:
|
Fellows are required to attend all monthly meetings. Monthly meetings provide the Fellows with interdisciplinary discussions, time for reflection on community service, and an opportunity to network with professionals in areas of interest to them.
|
|
Public Outreach: |
The Fellows work together as a group to organize one or more outreach activities that may take the form of public symposia or group service activities.
|
|
Recruitment: |
In the fall of each year, current and past Fellows will assist in organizing an information session on the Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows Program and present information about their Fellowship experiences.
|
|
Other Fellowship Activities: |
Fellows may be invited to attend ASF events which include Board members, guests from the national office, donors and others. |
The community service projects of Schweitzer Fellows should address an unmet health need and support the nation’s public health agenda, Healthy People 2010. Healthy People 2010 has 28 focus areas and numerous interventions designed to reduce or eliminate illness, disability, and premature death among individuals and communities. For more information on Healthy People 2010, please visit www.healthypeople.gov
Potential Fellows can choose to develop new projects that are of interest to a particular agency, or continue an on-going project. Applicants should communicate with their potential community partners prior to submitting their applications and be specific in their proposals about their relationships with the community partners. Each applicant should also outline the role they will play in the project as they foresee it, their short and long-term goals for the project, and any unique contributions they feel they can bring to an existing project or agency. Potential Fellows are encouraged to develop projects in collaboration with community-based agencies that are not part of an academic institution. Joint proposals will be considered but no more than two individuals may apply for work on the same project. Applicants proposing to work with a partner should provide very specific information explaining why the project requires two Fellows and what the specific roles of each Fellow will be.
ELIGIBILITY
Students enrolled in degree granting programs in fields such as (but not limited to) medicine, nursing, optometry, dentistry, pharmacy, podiatry, public health, acupuncture, education, engineering, environmental sciences, law, music, occupational and physical therapy, social work and public policy are eligible to apply. Students must be enrolled from April 2010 - March 2011. While the field of study does not necessarily have to be health related, the focus of the project must be.
APPLICATION
The deadline for applications for 2010-2011 has passed. Please check back in the fall of 2010 for information about the 2011-2012 application.
For More Information, please contact:
Dale Ogar, Program Director
T: (510) 289-8407
daleogar@schweitzerfellowship.org
|