Global Health Teaching Fellowship
Overview
The Mount Sinai Global Health Teaching Fellowship is a one or two-year program designed to provide post-graduate physicians with the knowledge and skills to become professionals in the fields of public health and healthcare for underserved populations. This fellowship has a unique focus on developing teaching strategies and techniques, so that the fellow can effectively build healthcare capacity and effect positive behavior change in settings with human resource shortages. While the teaching mission includes working with (local) clinicians to improve clinical skills, the scope is actually much broader because of the important role that paraprofessionals and the community members have in health status in the most impoverished settings. Capitalizing on the resources of the Mount Sinai Masters of Public Health program and the Mount Sinai Institute for Medical Education, the fellows will develop the necessary clinical, teaching, research, administrative skills to become effective global health teachers.
 
Components
The structure of the track depends on whether the fellow has a Masters in Public Health or comparable, relevant advanced degree (for example an education degree). If they do, they can complete their Global Health Teaching Fellowship in a single year. If, not, they will do their fellowship in two years, completing the MPH at Mount Sinai during this time.
 
Didactics
One-year fellows, who already have a relevant Master’s degree, will be given the opportunity to take short courses or certificate programs in education, tropical medicine, or other relevant global health topics through other NY-based universities or medical centers, NGOs, or professional organizations. The timing will likely not allow for them to take courses within the Mount Sinai MPH program. Two-year fellows will complete their MPH at Mount Sinai with a concentration in global health during the fellowship. The coursework towards the degree will be tailored to the fellowship, and some of the electives will be completed through outside institutions.
 
Global Health Teaching Project
The teaching project is the focal point of the fellowship. The purpose of this field project is to have fellows design or take part in a long-term capacity building project in an underserved setting. The fellow should focus on teaching techniques that create positive behavior change in the learner, whether they are physicians, nurses, other health professionals, or target population. These behavior changes might include adopting new clinical techniques, new administrative or logistic improvements, new teaching skills, or discontinuing harmful practices. We encourage creative approaches, founded in evidence. The fellow will be asked to evaluate the impact of their training program on the targeted behavior.

One-year fellows, given the limitations imposed by this shortened format, will be asked to apply with a project proposal (which may be modified with faculty input), or to accept a designated project from the program at one of our partner sites. They will not have time to develop a new project and execute it completely during their single year.
Two-year fellows, on the other hand, can spend their first year planning their intervention and the second year implementing it at one of our partner sites, if they do not have a fully developed project upon entering the fellowship.

Clinical
Although this not primarily a clinical fellowship, some clinical experience is necessary because it gives fellows a first-hand understanding of the challenges of working within healthcare institutions and healthcare structures in low-income settings, and give them exposure to the spectrum and type of disease typical of underserved patients. The fellows would be expected to become familiar, through reading and clinical practice, with the management of common tropical diseases, as well as other non-communicable diseases that one typically sees outside of the United States. This knowledge will allow them to become more effective teachers and trainers in these settings.

One-year fellows will have the opportunity to develop appropriate clinical skills during their time in the field, although they will spend a minority of their time doing clinical work. If their project site does not afford a clinical opportunity, a shorter-term clinical elective can be arranged in a similar setting at a partner site.

The two-year fellows will be able to start their fellowship with a clinical elective during the summer prior to starting MPH classes, and potentially will be able to participate in an additional elective during the year between semesters. We will work to find relevant clinic-based or inpatient experiences during the school year. Whether these are at Mount Sinai or not will depend on the fellow’s appointment status within their specialties department. For example, if the appropriate clinical department agrees to hire the fellow on a part time basis, and if the work were relevant, they could participate in clinics or on the wards, as appropriate. Other clinical opportunities in New York may be identified as well, preferably with a link to the fellow’s field project. For example, if the project involved an aspect of TB management, they could observe or participate in the Department of Health’s TB clinic. The fellow will be able to continue clinical work intermittently during their second year.

 

Compensation and Benefits
The fellow will receive:
  • Fellows salary plus benefits
  • Fully paid MPH degree
  • Travel allowance
  • Project costs
  • Conference Allowance

Qualifications: Qualified candidates for the fellowship must have successfully completed an accredited residency and must have a US Medical License. Any specialty will be considered. Non-MDs or international fellows are not eligible to apply. Fellows will be chosen based on a demonstrated interest in global health and education, in addition to a strong performance in their clinical training. We are looking for fellows who intend to make global health a major part of their career. In addition, for applicants for the one-year fellowship, we will look at the quality of their thesis work, and its relevance to the global health teaching fellowship. We will also review their project proposals for the teaching fellowship field project for one-year fellows.
 
Applications can be submitted until January 2, 2013. Candidates will by notified by January 31st.

Global Health Teaching Fellowship Structure.