The Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows Program, a program of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship and the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group, provides service opportunities and support for aspiring health professionals who seek to help those currently underserved by our healthcare system. With the generous help of Chicago-based contributors, the Chicago Schweitzer Fellows Program unites a diverse range of health professional students, faculty, and community-based providers who share a commitment to public service.

The program has worked to help meet the healthcare needs of Chicago's poor and underserved communities by selecting outstanding students from the city's health professional colleges and universities. These students are all committed to continuing Dr. Albert Schweitzer's mission, Reverence for Life. Through participation in the program, students are able to serve vulnerable populations that lack adequate access to healthcare.

Since the program's inception in 1996, the Fellowship has supported dozens of service projects throughout the city of Chicago and DuPage County, providing over 6,000 hours of community service annually.

Applicants to the program come from a wide range of graduate-level professional schools including: medicine, nursing, public health, social work, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, law, biological sciences, psychology, and others. Fellows tackle an array of health issues such as HIV/AIDS, asthma, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, homelessness, violence, and literacy. Fellows have developed and implemented service projects that offer health education, clinical services, advocacy, various therapeutic techniques, support groups, and other preventive measures that have helped to improve access to, and the quality of, healthcare services in the community.  

IN THEIR WORDS...

"As a medical student, I was rarely satisfied with the details of molecular biology, the unfolding of pathophysiology. I considered the Fellowship my lifeline. There was something vital about being around people with ideas and energy, about seeing a project through to completion, about service."  

- Minal Giri, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine

"The Schweitzer Fellows Program is a community of people interested in doing hands-on, grassroots work and effecting positive outcomes in underserved communities.  Being part of this program has given me a deeper understanding of the population that is underserved by our system, and has kept me from lapsing into complacency by saying the system is ok."  

   - Brian Kolski, Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine

"I cannot begin to express what a tremendous learning experience the Schweitzer Fellowship has been.  I was consistently in awe of the inspirational people that I was surrounded by. The opportunity to interact with other health professional students is extremely beneficial to pharmacy because it provides us with a chance to educate other health professionals about the capabilities of pharmacists.  Many of the Fellows are building a foundation that will lead them into roles as influential leaders."  

   - Eli Korner, University of Chicago College of Pharmacy
 

"Clearly, the program provides an opportunity for professional students to interact with agencies that serve needy populations, and also with the clientele. The program has afforded a vehicle for students to interact on a very personal level with segments of the population that they would not otherwise likely encounter in day-to-day educational experiences. 

I think that nearly as important is the unique opportunity it provides to bring together students from different professional disciplines to cooperate toward the success of one another's projects.  It is especially satisfying to see occasional participants involve some of their own student colleagues in the conduct of their projects.”  

   - Jack Snarr, Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Northwestern University Medical School

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Ray Wang
Program Director
Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows Program
Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
29 E. Madison Street, Suite 602
Chicago, IL 60602
T: (312) 372-4292
F: (312) 372-2753
rwang@hmprg.org