- Who We Are
- Fellowship Program Structure
- Community Benefits
- Fellowship Application
- Contact Information
Who We Are
In Houston, our nation’s fourth-largest city, we have the largest medical complex in the world, but entire neighborhoods have limited access to healthcare and healthy food. We also have fourteen major institutions of higher education, almost all with students focusing on health-allied studies. These students have innovative ideas and a desire to make a difference in their communities, but they lack the connections and training to make their vision a reality. We work with over 40 area agencies, ascertaining their greatest needs, and then deploy our 80-plus trained graduate student Fellows to create programs that address these unmet health needs. We support and guide these Fellows as they design, implement, evaluate, and plan for the sustainability of their project, serving as an incubator for their inventive ideas. At the end of the year, we have a cadre of service-oriented professionals with the skills and experience to address health disparities and the commitment to continue to work with marginalized communities. In the process, the community is impacted, and Fellows are transformed.
Mission
The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Houston-Galveston (ASFHG) mission is to train the next generation of professionals to serve and empower vulnerable people to build healthier communities and live healthier lives.
Structure of the program
The Fellowship spans a duration of one year (May to May). Fellows design, implement, and evaluate a community-based project through mentored direct service and a robust educational component. Projects are conducted in every area of the Houston region from Galveston to Bryan, Texas with local community-based partner organizations.
Upon successful completion of the initial Fellowship year, Fellows have the opportunity to participate in an alumni network of Fellows for Life – an interdisciplinary pipeline of emerging professionals who are dedicated and skilled in meeting the health needs of underserved communities.
Fellowship requirements
- Orientation
- Service Project
- Reports & meetings with academic and community mentors
- 2-hour in-person monthly peer-cohort meetings on weekday evenings
- Recruitment
- Evening of Difference and Celebration of Service
- Evaluation of the Fellowship
- Communication
- Leadership development
- Special Opportunities
Service Hours
At least half of the hours must come from direct service.
- Senior Fellows must complete 200 hours
- Capacity building projects - Can allow for up to 80 hours of the “direct service” to be in working with the system representatives. At least 20 hours still need to be in contact with the population being served. More information on capacity building projects is below.
Projects and health track
Fellows work independently and within other community-based organizations on prevention and intervention projects in health, addressing a wide variety of needs for the newly born to the end of life. The project should:
- Provide a direct service that meets a community-defined need and reflects national and local health priorities.
- Focus on addressing health and/or the social determinants of health in the population served.
- Be of an enduring value to the community/agency served. The project proposal should include a brief discussion about sustainability of the project at the end of the Fellowship year.
Health tracks include:
- Children’s Health
- Homeless Health
- Refugee and Immigrant Health
- Mental Health
- HIV, Sexual Health, Human Trafficking
- Oral Health
- Vision Health
- Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Exercise
- Special Needs Health
- Aging and Elderly Health
- Women’s health
- Environmental Health
- LGBTQIA+ Health
- Individuals with Disabilities
- Open Track
Capacity Building Projects
Capacity-building is defined as a project that seeks to advance a system of care to better meet the needs of the clients. These projects often have more contact with the staff of an organization. Fellow projects must focus on implementing an intervention rather than just providing research.
Examples of these kinds of projects:
- Helping a clinic better serve the mental health needs of a community
- Teaching medical students about issues to keep in mind when caring for individuals with disabilities
Patient Navigation Fellows
The ASF Patient Navigation Program is a new program within ASF where applicants have the opportunity to act as patient navigators within their community project. While following a similar structure of the Fellowship, being an ASF Patient Navigation Fellow will require applicants to work on specific Legacy projects.
Requirements for ASF Patient Navigation Fellows in addition to standard Fellowship requirements:
All of the following tasks will be counted as service hours that will be applied to service hours requirement for the Fellowship.
- Attend 2-3 additional in person didactic sessions in Houston (around 5 hours total)
- Use the PCIC database and focus on resource navigation in your project
- Complete additional quality improvement surveys
- Attend periodic group Zoom check-ins (around 30 minutes per month)
- Answer an additional question on the monthly report about your patient navigation experience
For more information, please visit the Becoming an ASF Patient Navigation Fellow page.
Stipends
Senior Fellows receive $1000 each.
Fellows serve the community during their year of service and leave the program uniquely qualified and prepared to continue to work with vulnerable communities for the rest of their careers. This cohort of leaders in service strengthens the shrinking healthcare workforce predicted to plague the sector and our nation’s health for decades to come, disproportionately impacting vulnerable individuals, families, and communities.
“During the Fellowship, my perspective on vulnerable communities shifted significantly. I developed a deeper understanding of the complex challenges they face and the systemic barriers that contribute to their vulnerability. This understanding fostered a greater sense of empathy and a commitment to addressing the root causes of inequality and injustice.” - Taylor Jackson, MS-3, University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta College of Medicine
Students enrolled in graduate or professional degree-granting programs in our listed consortium schools may apply. The applicant’s proposed service project must focus on health and/or the social determinants of health. Applicants must be enrolled throughout the Fellowship year. Applicants scheduled for a December graduation should contact the Executive Director, Dr. Andrea Link, to determine if they are eligible for a waiver to this requirement.
Applications open November 2024 and due February 2025. For more information, please visit the ASFHG application page at www.asfhg.org/application-information.
For more information, visit our website at www.asfhg.org.
To sign up for email updates on workshops, projects, and more, visit the application page at www.asfhg.org/application-information.
Reach us for any questions with the contacts below:
Nichole Hoang, MPH, NDTR, CHES (she/her) | Fellowship Associate
Carol Jacob, MPH, CHES (she/her) | Program Director & DEI Coordinator
Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Houston-Galveston
6431 Fannin St., JJL 450 Houston, TX 77030