Research Fellowship in Type 1 Diabetes and Global Health Equity

The Division of Global Health Equity, housed in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is seeking a clinician (physician, nurse, or physician assistant) interested in advancing their research skills and experience regarding the type 1 diabetes (T1D) burden in populations living in extreme poverty.

This fellowship will include direct collaboration with the Program in Global NCDs and Social Change, housed in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and the NCD Synergies project at Partners In Health (PIH). The team across BWH, HMS, and PIH focuses on diverse areas within the noncommunicable disease (NCD) spectrum, including implementation, policy, education, and research in “integration science” for NCDs and injuries among those living in extreme poverty.

Quick Facts

  • The Research Fellowship in Type 1 Diabetes and Global Health Equity is a one to two year non-ACGME-accredited fellowship program.
  • The fellowship accepts at least one fellow per year.

Program Goals

The fellowship specifically focuses on training fellows to do the following:

  1. To gain experience and technical knowledge in T1D research relevant to low-income countries
  2. To collaborate with and support country-level colleagues
  3. To support clinical innovation around T1D practice in these settings
  4. To provide clinical training to other providers in these settings
  5. To effectively collect and analyze data on innovative T1D interventions

The Fellowship Program strives to attain these goals by providing fellows with a combination of formal didactics, mentored clinical and training activities, and mentored research.

Curriculum Overview

The proposed Fellowship Program would be a one to two-year research fellowship in global health and T1D. The first year would begin with intensive didactic and practical training designed to provide fellows with a strong foundation in the practice of global health in resource-limited settings.

This training would start with the three and a half week Global Health Delivery Intensive (GHDI) Program offered each summer at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The educational goals of the Global Health Delivery Intensive (GHDI) Program are to initiate the fellows into a new way of approaching global health, to introduce them to the science of global health delivery, and to provide them with the tools they need to be successful practitioners in this field.

This intensive month of didactics would be followed by a 10-day on-site Global Health and Social Medicine course in a PIH-supported country, also known as the “Global Health Boot Camp." The educational goals of the Global Health Boot Camp rotation are to learn about the social, political, and economic factors that have shaped health care systems in resource-poor settings, to gain a deeper understanding of the social determinants of health, and to gain firsthand experience with a model of care which addresses these factors.

Trainees will then participate in two four-month field-based practicums in a PIH-supported country (i.e. Malawi, Rwanda, or Liberia), in addition to two three-week writing periods. Trainees will be learning primarily through practice-based, experiential learning. They will be guided by experienced mentors through this process. Fellows will also learn by teaching key concepts and skills to mid-level providers in other countries particularly around type 1 diabetes.

One of the primary Fellowship goals is to prepare Fellows to effectively collect and analyze data on innovative T1D interventions. Throughout field-based time periods, Trainees will participate in the design of monitoring and evaluation systems for these interventions, and they will collect and analyze data on associated costs and relevant outcomes under the mentorship of the Program Director and PIH site-based colleagues. During each of the two writing periods, trainees will have three weeks of protected time dedicated to completing the analysis and writing up the results of their field work.

Teaching Facilities

The fellows receive training at several of the four international locations managed by national Ministries of Health and supported by Partners In Health and the Brigham’s Division of Global Health Equity.

International Facilities

  • In Rwanda: Rwinkwavu District Hospital, Kirehe District Hospital, Butaro District Hospital
  • In Haiti: the University Hospital of Mirebalais
  • In Malawi: Neno District Hospital
  • In Liberia: J.J. Dossen Memorial Hospital

Applications

We are no longer accepting applications for this cycle.

Requirements

We require the following documents for a complete application to be reviewed:

  • T1D and Global Health Equity Fellowship application
  • Curriculum vitae (CV)
  • Personal statement
  • Three letters of recommendation including one from your current program director

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