How I found my public health fellowship was actually a simple strategy.
In looking for jobs and fellowship opportunities in the public health field, I put simple steps in place so that I would be able to leverage my time to find diverse opportunities.
There are so many public health fellowships opportunities available.
Some are in governmental agencies, health foundations, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations. healthcare systems and international organizations.
However, fellowships can also offer vastly different experiences in public health.
I think when looking for public health fellowship you should:
Support The Public Health Millennial on BuyMeACoffee
- Start looking early
- Don’t narrow your interest too soon
- Start getting your references/letters of recommendations ready
(Related: Why I Wanted a Public Health Fellowship)
How I Found My Public Health Fellowship
The fellowship that I was able to attain is as a Community Health Fellow at the Mat-Su Health Foundation in Wasilla, Alaska. This fellowship is in a health foundation that works in the both in philanthropy and public health.
I found my fellowship opportunity from a google job alert I had set for “public health fellowships” throughout the entire USA. In other words, one day I lucky (or strategically) got an email alert that my foundation was hiring a community health fellow.
I clicked the link and I was able to see what the position was asking for and what documents I needed to apply. In addition, I went to the organization’s website to research what they were about and learn as much as I can before applying.
Although, I had the same search on for LinkedIn, I didn’t get a notification for it. However, afterwards when I searched on LinkedIn I was able to find the same fellowship posting I got from the Google job alert.
Google job alerts are great way to get job alerts the day of job postings.
This helped me to be able to apply early in the process. I recommend applying to whatever fellowship as soon as you can. But ensure your that your application is a great reflection of your knowledge, skills and abilities.
I was also able to learn about some CDC Evaluation fellowships and other fellowships at other public health organizations.
How You Can Get Started
If you have no clue what sort of fellowship you want to apply for, here are 4 suggestions:
- Google Job Alerts
- Your Public Health College
- ORISE Fellowships
1. LinkedIn
I always think that you should be looking on LinkedIn for your next career move and this is no different.
LinkedIn is a great resource to find fellowships from diverse organizations.
There is the added bonus that many of the current fellows are on LinkedIn. Or the fellowship organization is on LinkedIn. This is great for you to get information about new fellowships openings.
You are able to follow different organizations that host yearly fellowship programs on LinkedIn. Additionally, you can always reach out to current fellows or other employees at the organization to get to know more about the organization and the fellowship position.
2. Google Job Alerts
By using Google Job Alerts you can find unique fellowship opportunities that you may not have heard of before.
Google is a powerful search tool and it can be leveraged to find great fellowship opportunities. Using google alerts to target specific states or cities can be used to find fellowship opportunities arising throughout the calendar year.
You can also use this feature to have any and all public health fellowships notifications be sent to your email. I find this to be extremely helpful to have notifications sent directly to you and then you can sift through to see if there are any that you are interested in.
You can see how to turn on Google Alerts here.
3. Your Public Health College
The university that you are currently going to may be a great resource to learn about potential fellowships.
You can usually find resources at your university in 3 ways:
- Career Resources or someone else may have a list of fellowships
- Professors sharing information with you
- Through the Alumni network sharing fellowship information
Though not all school will have resources on public health fellowships. By simply asking different professors or administrators information on fellowships, they would be more keen to look and share this information with you later on.
Never doubt the power that a conversation can have on someone being more readily available to help you.
4. ORISE Fellowships
Oak Ridge for Science and Education (ORISE) fellowships can be great opportunity for students with a variety of different areas of studying.
ORISE is a U.S. Department of Energy asset that is aimed at providing world class expertise in STEM workforce development, scientific and technical reviews, and the evaluation of radiation exposure and environmental contamination.
The reason I put ORISE on this list because of the many diverse fellowship opportunities they provide within one searchable portal.
They give the opportunity for talented students and recent graduates to learn in various fields aligned with many different interest.
Tip from a Current Public Health Fellow
The single thing I would tell someone thinking about choosing to pursue a fellowship after graduation is to do the research.
Make sure you are looking at all the different possibilities. Go out on LinkedIn and talk to current or past fellows of the organization you are interested in. This will tremendously help you better understand if this fellowship and the potential career path afterwards aligns with your career interest.
I bet you current or past fellows would love to share their experiences with you while talking about themselves.
Conclusion
In conclusion, public health fellowships are a great way to leverage your degree (MPH, etc.) and experience to jump-start your public health career.
I found my fellowship by using google job alerts which sent notifications directly to my email daily.
However, there are a host of ways to learn about fellowships in public health.
Above all, ensure to start your search for fellowships as early as possible. This will ensure that you know which opportunities are best suited to your career goals.
How did you come across a public health fellowship?
