Fellowship Additional Information

Professional Development

As a benefit of the fellowship, CSTE has allotted $970 per year to defray professional development expenses. These funds are to be used for the purpose of travel to meetings or conferences, attending short-term training programs, purchasing of work related books, and attendance of classes intended to aid in work related projects. An example of an inappropriate use of funds is to pay for poster expenses and other general administrative expenses. The host state agency should be responsible for covering these expenses.

The funds must be used for activities that fall within the fellow’s Plan of Action. CSTE also strongly encourages host health agencies to provide funds for fellow travel and training. CSTE communicates with all primary and secondary mentors, encouraging the health department to share the responsibility of supporting fellows to attend conferences, meetings, and reimbursement for in-state travel. Most years, funding is available for fellows to attend their program area conferences (MCH-EPI conference, ICEID conference, Environmental Health, Chronic Disease, etc). This funding, when available, is provided in addition to the professional development allowance. CSTE encourages Fellows to speak with their mentors about the Conferences and other professional development opportunities that will provide the best training and professional development for the cost involved. Below are conferences that fellows have attended in the past and have recommended to other fellows as a good use of professional development funds. These are all CSTE approved uses of the professional development allowance.

Conferences

National Immunization Conference
Maternal and Child Health Leadership Epidemiology Conference
American Public Health Association Conference
Saratoga Springs Northeast Epidemiology Conference
National Birth Defects Prevention Network Annual Conference
Different State Public Health Association Conferences
Minority Women with HIV/AIDS Conference
National Environmental Public Health Conference
CDC Health Promotion Conference
BRFSS Conference
EIS Conference
SAS Conference
CDC Infectious Disease Conference (ICEID)
Michigan Epidemiology Meeting
Northeast Epidemiology Conference
Foodbourne Disease Conference
Society for Epi Research
West Coast Epi Conference
Northwest Immunization Conference
ESRI- Quarantine
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Director’s Association Conference
Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research

Other Appropriate Uses of Professional Development Funds

SAS/SUDAAN classes and certifications
Epidemiology and epi related books that will aid in professional development/serve as a resource (e.g. SAS, SUDAAN, program area epidemiology books, etc)
Short-term trainings/Table-Top exercises

Applications: The Class VIII online application will open on November 4, 2009. The application deadline is February 1, 2010. Application materials will not be accepted after that date.

All candidates who successfully interview at CSTE will have an opportunity to participate in a matching process that includes interviewing with potential host agencies. Start dates for Class VIII will be June-August 2010.

Orientation: Within the first three months of the Fellowship, all incoming Fellows will participate in a five-day orientation course in September in Atlanta, Georgia. The orientation course will cover various topics related to developing the program competencies and will be taught by CSTE and CDC epidemiologists and faculty at Schools of Public Health.

Fellowship Activities: By the end of the third month of the Fellowship, Fellows will submit a proposed “Plan of Action” that will outline how the Fellow will complete the major required core activities. The Fellow and his or her mentors will create the plan jointly. Every six months, the Fellow and mentors will complete a progress report regarding the Fellow’s progress toward meeting the required core activities. In addition, each Fellow must submit a quarterly report highlighting his or her work experience thus far.

Final Report and Certificate: During the last month of the Fellowship, Fellows and their mentors will submit a final report that indicates how each competency was achieved, the Fellow’s perspective on the Fellowship, and an evaluation of the Fellow completed by the mentors. A certificate from CDC, CSTE, and ASPH will then be awarded to Fellows provided that all competencies are met.

Annual Conference
All CDC/CSTE Fellows are required to attend the CSTE Annual conference that is held in June of each year. CSTE will pay for the cost of travel for the Fellows in addition to the $970 that is provided for professional development. Fellows are expected to submit abstracts for the conference.

Stipend:
Fellows with an MPH degree will be paid a bimonthly stipend of up to $39,000 annually. Doctoral level candidates will be paid up to $56,000. Stipends will be set according to location, cost of living, and pay structure at the host agency.

Insurance:
Up to $3,200 per year will be available to supplement the individual health insurance coverage selected by the Fellow.

Moving/Relocation Expenses:
Up to $1,000 will be provided for moving related expenses.

Professional Development:
$970 per year is provided for each Fellow for professional development. This can be used for conferences, classes, trainings, or other activities that qualify as “professional development.”

Am I eligible to apply?

To be eligible to be a Fellow, applicants are required to have the following:

An MPH, MSPH, MS in epidemiology, or an equivalent degree or advanced degree in a health related field
(i.e. PhD in epidemiology, biostatistics, or other public health field; an MD degree; or a DVM degree).

Completed at least three graduate-level epidemiology courses and one graduate level biostatistics course.

Desire to pursue a long-term career at the state or local level.

United States citizenship.

What is the application process?

All applications that meet minimum requirements will be formally evaluated by at least two members of a review committee. Their review committee will include representatives from CDC staff, ASPH affiliates, and persons with past or current experience working as an epidemiologist in a state or local health department. Criteria for evaluating the applications include the following:

Academic achievement

Work/research experience

Writing skills

Career goals

Letters of Recommendation

After this evaluation, top applicants will be selected for in-person interviews. The number of applicants selected for interviews will depend upon the number of funded positions and the quality of applications. Finalists will then be selected and matched with the available positions at state and local health agencies.

The application includes the following components:

Identifying Information

Education

Professional Experience

Program Areas of Interest

Geographical Preferences or needs

Resume or CV

Official Transcripts from all degree granting programs

Three letters of Recommendation

Personal statement

Proof of US Citizenship

Click here to begin application

THE CDC/CSTE APPLIED EPIDEMIOLOGY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Overview
CSTE, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), has established this fellowship to train recent graduates in the expanding field of applied epidemiology. The goal of the fellowship is to provide a high quality training experience and to secure long-term career placement for fellows at the health agencies to which they are assigned. Participating fellows will receive two years of on-the-job training at a state health agency under the guidance of an experienced mentor.

Program Mission
To meet the nation’s ongoing need for applied epidemiology workforce capacity in state and local health departments through a national fellowship-training program.

The fellowship will focus on balancing three key concepts, as identified in the CDC guidance document, Applied Epidemiology and Training Program (AETP) Development Handbook (McDonnell 2002):

Provide service to the sponsoring agency.
Create and train a core group of public health workers.
Strengthen capacity in applied epidemiology across public health institutions.

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What does the program have to offer?

Using a mentorship model, The CDC/CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for graduates to acquire and develop the epidemiologic skills during a high quality, on-the job-training program in public health practice. This fellowship is designed for recent graduates who are interested in the practice of public health at the state or local level. While the program provides rigorous training for its participants, it is also designed with flexibility in order to meet the particular interests of the fellow. Fellows are carefully matched to host agencies based on the career interests of the fellow and available opportunities of the host agency. Program participants will develop a comprehensive set of core skills through competency-based training:

Epidemiologic methods

Design surveillance systems to assess health problems.
Evaluate surveillance systems and understand the limitations of surveillance data.
Be able to interpret surveillance data.
Design an epidemiologic study to address a health problem.
Understand the different basic types of study design and the advantages and limitations of each type.
Design a questionnaire or other data collection tool to address a health problem.
Collect health data from appropriate sources (e.g., case interviews, medical records, vital statistics records, laboratory reports, or pathology reports).
Create a database for a health data set.
Use statistical software to analyze and characterize epidemiologic data.
Interpret findings from epidemiologic studies, including the ability to recognize the limitations of the data and potential sources of bias or confounding.
Recommend control measures, prevention programs, or other public health interventions based on epidemiologic findings.

Communication

Write a field investigation report.
Write a surveillance report.
Understand the basic process for preparing a manuscript for publication.
Make an oral presentation using appropriate media.
Present data graphically and know how to use graphic software.
Understand the basics of health-risk communication and be able to communicate epidemiologic findings in a manner that is easily understood by lay audiences (i.e., those with limited scientific background).
Master’s-level fellows: present a poster at a national or regional meeting/publish a technical report/prepare a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Doctoral-level fellows: prepare a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Public Health Practice, Policy, and Legal Issues

Public health law.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Distinguishing between public health research and public health practice.
Protection of human subjects and the role of an Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Essential public health functions.
Roles of local, state, and federal public health agencies.
The diversity of how epidemiology is used in different program areas.
Cultural sensitivity issues.

How are health agencies selected?

Each health agency must identify a particular program area in which the fellow will be placed. Program areas include infectious disease, chronic disease, maternal child healthcare, injury, birth defect and developmental disabilities, environmental, occupational and emergency response epidemiology. Health agencies must submit applications to CSTE that describe the fellowship assignment within a specified program area, supervision, support structure and workspace proposed for the fellow. . Complete applications are reviewed by experienced epidemiologists and are evaluated on:

The scope, quality, and diversity of experience offered to the fellow,
Experience of supervisors in management, epidemiology, academia and mentoring,
Availability of office space, computer and office/technical support; and
Letters of support to the agency seeking a fellow.

Successful host agencies will have experienced mentors, day-to-day activities that provide “hands on” epidemiology experience, and the ability to help the fellow achieve all of the program goals.
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Does it pay/what are the benefits?

Fellows with an MPH degree will be paid a biweekly stipend up to $39,000 annually. Stipends will be set according to location, cost of living, and pay structure at the host agency. The stipend for fellows with doctoral degrees will be up to $56,000 annually based on location, cost of living, and pay structure at the host agency.

Up to $3200.00 per year will be available to pay the premium for individual health insurance selected by the fellow.