A Different Kind of Fellowship
Site Fellows and Rotating Fellows learn together and work together in the cohort community, from the first day to the last day of the fellowship. They often partner to deliver projects in the community, at the clinical level, in research, and in teaching. Partnership and solidarity are not just project based, but are deeply embedded into many personal and professional aspects of the fellowship, creating a space for shared knowledge, reflection, and co-creation of solutions and relationships that last well beyond the two year fellowship.
Site Fellows
Site Fellows are health workers who are currently employed by HEAL partner sites. They have spent years embedded in and working in the communities they serve and in most cases and have a deep, demonstrated commitment to to doing this work for the long haul, to their personal growth, and to this global community. They come from a variety of occupations in health, from physicians to nurses to counselors to program managers and beyond.
During the two-year fellowship, HEAL Site fellows attend 3 intensive trainings and commit to funded professional development activities while continuing their work.
Rotating Fellows
Rotating fellows are US based physicians or nurses from a variety of specialties who have completed or will be in the final year of a residency program by the start of their fellowship. To apply to be a rotating fellow, you have to have completed residency in the US, and have a US passport or green card. (Unfortunately this is the case until we have a better immigration policy!)
During the two-year fellowship, HEAL Rotating fellows split their time, rotating between a US underserved site and an international underserved site working full-time and immersively in each location. Rotating fellows are employed as UCSF fellows during that time period, though their day to day work is for two organizations.
Fellow Curriculum & Mentorship
HEAL brings fellows together to deliver three immersive training programs over the two year fellowship, one in the San Francisco Bay area and two in Navajo Nation. The HEAL Initiative program is designed to educate and train its fellows in health equity, action, and leadership within the context of global health delivery. The first immersive training, a three week long intensive, focuses on the following core competencies:
HEAL Core Competencies
- Provision of high quality care focused on local burden of disease
- Incorporation into and effective engagement with local health system
- Demonstration of leadership and interprofessionalism
- Development of strong and diverse teaching skills
- Advocacy for communities, health systems, and patients
- Adherence to health equity and ethics in clinical and academic work
Throughout the two-year fellowship, all HEAL fellows engage in an ongoing curriculum that reinforces and builds upon the skills gained during the Global Health Training through problem-based learning and facilitated discussion. The ongoing curricula include case studies presented by fellows, discussion of academic journal articles relevant to global health delivery, as well as tailored curricula based on fellows’ individual learning goals.
HEAL matches all fellows with an interprofessional group of experienced advisors to provide guidance and support throughout the two years of the fellowship. All fellows will work closely with assigned mentors to develop individual development plans (IDPs) mapped to the HEAL core competencies. These plans will be revisited on a monthly basis and will evolve during the two years.