APPLICATION GUIDELINES

The Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows Program is a one-year interdisciplinary fellowship program focused on community service and leadership development.  Students from University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Irvine; University of Southern California; and other schools throughout Los Angeles who are obtaining professional degrees in health-related fields may apply. 

In addition to the four overall goals of the U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Programs, the Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows Program aims to help Fellows:

• Improve skills used for working with communities, including: approaches to community work, community outreach, community building, networking, publicity, fundraising, and advocacy 
• Gain exposure to the impact of health disparities and health policies on local communities
• Learn about other health-related professions
• Improve overall capabilities for leadership in service
• Participate in a voluntary network of over 1,700 Fellows for Life who seek to include service in their personal and professional lives

REQUIRED ACTIVITIES OF FELLOWS 

Orientation & Retreat:	Fellows must attend a daylong retreat in the spring of 2009.
Service Project:	Each Fellow designs and carries out a health-related community service project of at least 200 hours in collaboration with a local community agency. Health, as defined by the World Health Organization, is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The 200 hours is separate from any school course requirement.
Reports & Evaluations:	Fellows submit monthly one-page reports about their activities, a written final report, and an evaluation about the Fellowship experience. Fellows’ site mentors also must complete a final evaluation.
Monthly Meetings:	Fellows are required to attend all monthly meetings. Monthly meetings provide the Fellows with interdisciplinary discussions, time for reflection on community service, and an opportunity to network with professionals in service professions.
Public Outreach:	Each Fellow works in a small group to organize an outreach activity that may take the form of a public symposia or group service activity.
Recruitment:	Fellows will organize an information sessions on the Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows Program and present on their Fellowship experience at their schools.
Other Fellowship Activities:	Several times a year, Fellows are invited to ASF events featuring Board members, guests of the ASF, and donors.

The community service projects of Schweitzer Fellows should address an unmet health need and support the nation’s public health agenda, Healthy People 2010.   Healthy People 2010 has 28 focus areas and numerous interventions designed to reduce or eliminate illness, disability, and premature death among individuals and communities. For more information on Healthy People 2010, please visit www.healthypeople.gov

The majority of service hours must be spent in direct contact with the population you are serving. Research, fundraising, and policy-based projects are not considered appropriate Fellowship projects.  Fellows can choose to propose new projects that are of interest to an agency, or to continue an on-going project.  Fellows should be specific in their proposal about their exact roles in the projects as they foresee them, their short and long-term goals for the project, and any unique contributions they feel they can bring to any existing project or agency.

Applicants may choose to work with a partner.  In the case of paired projects, each Fellow must complete the 200 hour service requirement, participate in all Fellowship activities, and submit an individual final report and evaluation.  Each Fellow will receive the full $2,500 stipend.

ELIGIBILITY

Students enrolled in graduate or professional degree granting programs in health-related fields such as medicine, nursing, public health, acupuncture, education, engineering, law, music, occupational and physical therapy, pharmacy, social work, public policy, and others are eligible to apply.  Students must be enrolled from April 2009-April 2010.  Students graduating earlier in 2010 may apply, but will be required to participate in all program activities through the end of the Fellowship year.

DEADLINE

The application deadline for the 2009-2010 Fellowship year will be February 1, 2009.  Please check back in the fall of 2008 for additional information.

For More Information, please contact:

John K. Su, MD, MPH, Co-Director
Los Angeles Schweitzer Fellows Program
4950 Sunset Blvd, 4th Fl
Los Angeles, CA  90027
T: 323-783-5818
E: johnksu@gmail.com