The Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program offers two different tracks for individual placement: (1) a residential track that includes a nine-to-12-month placement in Washington, D.C. or at a state agency (as a legislative assistant in Congress, a professional staff member in an executive branch agency or in a policy organization); (2) a non-residential track that includes health policy work and brief placement(s) throughout the year at relevant sites. This work may be focused at a global, federal, state or community level.
The program also has some additional specific tracks, as follows:
The Behavioral Health Policy Track enables Fellows to become effective leaders who help shape and implement behavioral health policies at the state and federal levels that improve the lives of older adults and those who care for them.
The Caregiver Policy Track enables Fellows based in and serving Western New York and Southeastern Michigan to become effective leaders who help shape and implement family caregiving policies at the state and federal levels that would improve the lives of caregivers and those they care for.
The VA Program Track enables VA employees to participate in the VA track as a non-residential fellow.
Eligibility and Selection
Fellows are selected each year through a national competition based on their commitment to health and aging issues, leadership potential, and interest in impacting policy. The program has a broad interdisciplinary focus, and fellows have included physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, dieticians, healthcare administrators, epidemiologists, economists, and lawyers from academic and practice settings, spanning career stages from newly minted PhDs to senior professors and community leaders. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories who have career plans that anticipate continued work in the U.S. after the fellowship period.
