PROGRAMS FOR FELLOWS AND JUNIOR FACULTY

CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT SCHOLARS IN HEALTH POLICY AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

The California Endowment Scholars in Health Policy at Harvard University is a one-year, full-time, academic degree-granting program designed to create health professional leaders, particularly minority physician-leaders, who will pursue careers in health policy, public health practice and academia. The program is designed to incorporate the critical skills taught in schools of medicine, public health, government, business, and dental medicine with supervised practica, leadership forums conducted by senior faculty and nationally recognized leaders in minority health and public policy, a seminar series and scholarship travel.

Each scholarship will provide support including: a $50,000 stipend, full tuition for a master's degree, health insurance, books, travel and related expenses, and financial assistance toward the support of a practicum project.

The program is designed to prepare health professional leaders who will, over time, improve the capacity of the health care system to address the health needs of minority and disadvantaged populations. To accomplish this, the program will:

• Provide strong academic training that leads to a Master's degree in Public Health or Public Administration.
• Provide advanced leadership and cultural competence training to scholars.
• Provide each scholar with mentoring by Harvard senior faculty and administrators and access to national leaders in health policy and public health practice.
• Bring together the faculty and resources of the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government to provide an enhanced curriculum that addresses issues of public health, policy, and practice, particularly as they relate to minority health issues.
• Utilize resources at Harvard Medical School, including the Office for Diversity and Community Partnership and the Minority Faculty Development Program, to enhance the networking, career development, and career advancement of participating Scholars of CESPHU.

• General Requirements for MPH Fellows
• Concentrations
• Core Curriculum
• Advanced Training

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MPH FELLOWS

Fellows of the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy and Scholars of California Endowment in Health Policy at Harvard University are required to complete the course requirements for a master of public health degree from the Harvard University School of Public Health (HSPH) in the 2004-2005 academic year.

A minimum of 40 credits is required for graduation, including 32.5 credits for core courses taken at HSPH and the John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG). Fellows may take additional credits (up to 43 credits) by selecting recommended courses offered at HSPH, the KSG, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Business School and Harvard Divinity School.

In addition to the completion of the academic training leading to a master degree in public health, fellows and scholars are required to receive leadership training. Fellows and Scholars must complete the following training components which are designed specifically to help them acquire the skills that will prepare them for leadership positions in minority health and public policy.

CONCENTRATIONS

Fellows and Scholars at the HSPH may establish a concentration in one of the following two fields:

• Health Care Management (HCM)
• Family and Community Health (FCH)

The MPH in Health Care Management (HCM) offers two substantive areas. The Management Focus prepares professionals for positions in health care delivery organizations from integrated health systems to the various components (e.g., insurers/risk-takers, hospitals, physicians, sub-acute and long-term care, pharmaceuticals). The Policy Focus within HCM prepares health professionals for positions in health policy, as consultants, advocates, or directly as policy makers. Both the policy and the management areas can lead to careers in the private or public sector.

The focus of the Family and Community Health (FCH) concentration emphasizes the promotion of health and the prevention of disease in populations through the preparation of health professionals with leadership skills in public health. The concentration prepares graduates for positions in diverse public health and non-profit settings, including federal, state and local government, voluntary health organizations, and community-based primary care settings. Program graduates fill many positions including director of public health, director for health agencies and programs, planner, analyst, and health advisor. The MPH Program can also serve as preparation for doctoral study.

CORE CURRICULUM

Core Curriculum for Health Care Management Concentration
(25.0 Credits)

The core curriculum of HCM Policy Focus includes core courses in the areas of ethics, biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health service administration, social and behavioral science, and practice of health care management.

Core Curriculum for Family and Community Health Concentration (22.5 Credits)

The core curriculum of Family and Community Health includes core courses in the areas of ethics, biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, health service administration, social and behavioral science, and practice of public health.

* Please refer to pg. 20 of the 2003-2004 MPH Basic Curriculum Book.
** Please refer to pg. 7-8 of the 2003-2004 MPH Basic Curriculum Book.

Core Curriculum for CFHUF and CES (10.0 Credits)

In addition to the core curriculum for the MPH or MC/MPA programs, fellows should take core courses in the areas of leadership, organization/public policy and politics, economics and finance, and cultural competence. There courses are required by the Fellowship.

Course Listing*

The following is a course listing of the core courses required by the MPH/FCH concentration and MPH/HCM concentration and the Fellowship programs: Download Course Listing

ADVANCED TRAINING

In addition to the academic work leading to a master degree in public health management, the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy also incorporates training components beyond it.

1. Leadership Forums

Three Leadership Forums are held per year. These forums are designed to provide an opportunity for fellows to interact with key physician leaders from the public, private and academic sectors. The goal is to expose fellows to the ways in which nationally recognized leaders solve problems in the real world. These two-day visits will include lecture, one-on-one meeting with fellows, an informal group dinner and reception and discussion. In addition, some portion of these sessions will be open to a larger audience.

2. Seminar Series

The series of seminars is designed to help fellows acquire sophisticated skills required to perform good leadership in public health management, with the emphasis on policy analysis, leadership skills, problem identification, program planning and formation, and strategies for career development. It is a full year ID course for credit (5 credits), offered jointly with Harvard School of Public Health. The fall semester course (Leadership in Minority Health Policy and Issues in Minority Health Policy) takes place Wednesday afternoons. And the spring course (Issues in Minority Health Policy) is held every Tuesday afternoon (spring term). The seminars take various forms including lecture, informal discussion, lunch/dinner with presenters.

3. Practicum

The practicum is a problem-solving exercise through which fellows learn how to apply their analytical skill to real-world policy decisions. The practicum project can take the form of either an analysis of the effects of a public policy or a study of management processes for a client organization in government, public sector, community health settings or private industry.

Fellows are expected to define and structure the problem with the organization, gather relevant information, identify and evaluate various courses of action, and propose recommendations for the organization. Fellows meet regularly with the Fellowship director who provides guidance on the content, structure and presentation of the project. Fellows also work closely with their project preceptors and faculty advisor to solicit feedback and support.

At the completion of their projects, fellows receive credit toward their MPH and are required to prepare both an oral presentation and written report. The presentations of the projects are scheduled in May each year. The Coordinating Committee members together with agency preceptor, Harvard faculty, staff, and students will attend the presentations.

4. Shadowing

The shadowing experience provides fellows a unique opportunity to interact more directly with nationally recognized public health leaders and to expose them to the central issues and challenges encountered by public health leaders. Fellows spend 3-4 days in the assigned working directly for the assigned public health leaders, attending senior staff meetings, participating in the actual policy-making process, and observing how they address real-world problems.

5. Journal Club

Journal club meetings are held monthly to discuss current articles related to public policy and public health, particularly articles related to minority health issues. Although open to any students participating in the seminar series, CFHUF fellows are responsible for presenting and leading the discussion.

6. Site Visits

Two site visits during each fellowship year enable fellows to obtain firsthand experiences of problem-solving and policy-making processes in public health management and afford them the opportunity to network directly with key administrators from both the public and private sectors. The Fellowship arranges the site visit to Atlanta in September before the academic year starts and one to Washington DC in spring.

7. Annual Meeting

The annual meeting is held in May each year. Both the alumni fellows and current fellows are invited. The former fellows are expected to assess the relevance of the Fellowship program in terms of their professional experiences of the post-fellowship years, and the current fellows present their practicum projects at the meeting. This annual gathering also provides the opportunity for both current and former fellows to share professional and academic experiences.