Call for Entries: Global Health Media Fellowship (US)

This year-long fellowship, the first of its kind in the U.S., teaches physicians-in-training to use various media channels to advocate and inform on global health issues. The selected fellow learns how reporting on global health issues can impact health and human rights efforts, foundation and government health assistance, and individual health choices.

Through coursework, independent reporting, and a CNN internship, fellows gain an understanding of how to tell compelling stories and work with local, national and international media outlets in order to share valuable medical and global health information with the general public.

Each year, one fellow is chosen from a pool of students enrolled in U.S. medical institutions committed to a career in global health (candidates do not have to be from Stanford). This opportunity provides medical students with up to 12 months of practical training in the fundamentals of journalism, communications, and global health reporting on a variety of media platforms, including print, online, broadcast, and social and digital media.

Each fellow participates in three rotations over the course of their fellowship year. The fellow spends the fall quarter (September through December) on campus taking courses in Stanford’s Graduate Program in Journalism.

Objectives

• They want to grow the audience for global health stories and they want to make sure the stories that are told are accurate. To help physicians engage with journalists, they designed this program to teach fellows:
  • How journalists and TV medical correspondents select and frame topics, stories, and issues in the field of global health;
  • Techniques to present and write persuasively about global health, medicine, and science;
  • How to access new channels and technologies for persuasive communication.
• Upon completion, the fellow will produce an in-depth article or other substantive media creation on a global health topic.
• The Fellow will return to medical training with the expectation that in addition to treating patients, conducting research or teaching, she or he will also become an advocate and spokesperson for global health issues.

Costs Covered

• A modest travel stipend is awarded in addition to the fellowship stipend.
• Fellows receive a stipend from CNN during their internship portion.
• The fellowship begins in September and runs through the following July.

Eligibility Criteria

• This fellowship is available to current allopathic medical and osteopathic (D.O.) students; the fellowship is not open to residents.
• Applicants must be currently enrolled in medical school at an institution in the United States to be considered.
• Fourth-year medical students interested in applying can opt to delay their residency and do a fifth year of medical school in order to be eligible.

For more information, visit Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health.