With the anticipated departure of a significant percentage of the public health workforce over the next five years, there is an urgent need to prepare existing leaders who will soon move into managerial and executive roles. These leaders will be critical in training and retaining new staff and building a fit-for-purpose public health workforce.

Public health is defined by The American Public Health Association as efforts to promote and protect the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work and play. While public health typically refers to study or practice with a specific population focus, global health centers focus on collaborative efforts towards achieving health equity for all people. Health inequities are not isolated experiences, and our local public health efforts contribute to accomplishing health equity globally. 

The co-fellow model has been a fundamental aspect of the GHC experience since our inception: bringing diverse colleagues into an intimate professional relationship fosters perspective-sharing, opportunities for learning, and access to unique networks, resources and ideas. Historically, co-fellow pairs came from different national backgrounds, but worked at the same organization during the fellowship year. This continues to be the model we promote in sub-Saharan Africa. The implementation of this model will look different in the U.S.: we will design tightly bonded small groups (3-5 fellows each), across multiple lines of difference (e.g. gender, geography, race/ethnicity, sector). This design will create opportunities for learning through multiple lenses.

We hope that fellows stay with the same organization for the duration of the fellowship. Fellows who are expecting to transition out of their current workplace (e.g. to pursue a full-time graduate program or a new job) within the next year, should apply to the U.S. fellowship during a future cycle. Our program is intended to enable fellows with resources and insights they can apply immediately, followed by opportunities for reflection and learning. We also expect to leverage fellows’ supervisors for insights and support during the fellowship year. That said, we know that unexpected transitions happen and we’ll work closely with fellows who transition out of their current workplace to determine whether it makes sense for them to continue in the fellowship community or not. That will be determined on a case-by-case basis, considering fellows’ new opportunity, their capacity, and their ability to fully engage with the fellowship.

Onboarding to a new organization is an intensive activity. We want to ensure that fellows have the capacity to fully engage with the fellowship. Furthermore, we want to ensure that fellows have had time to build strong relationships with their supervisor and peers, in order to gain useful feedback from them during the fellowship, and support to apply new tools and insights as a result of their participation in the fellowship.

Yes!

No, unfortunately, we won’t be able to allow deferrals; however, you are welcome to apply to future cohorts as long as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements.

Yes! Our global community is a critical network for sharing new perspectives, ideas, and opportunities in global health. We’ll design virtual opportunities for fellows to convene across continents so that all fellows have the chance to understand their domestic health system through a global lens. Additionally, U.S. fellows will join our 1,100+ alumni community, which regularly engages across borders through our robust alumni program.