The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) is now accepting new applications from state and local public health agencies to host a fellow in the CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship (AEF) program!

Host Site Applications will be accepted through November 11, 2020.

If your department can provide mentorship and administrative support for a fellow, CSTE encourages you to apply to host a Class 19 fellow for a two-year fellowship beginning in July 2021. Modeled after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)EIS program, the fellowship is designed to give recent public health graduates on-the-job training at health departments in preparation for a career as an epidemiologist at the state or local level.

Through the guidance of experienced mentors, fellows are expected to develop and refine applied epidemiologic skills by participating in a series of prescribed fellowship activities and projects identified as priorities by the health department. This fellowship is open to recent graduates with master’s and doctoral degrees who have training in epidemiology.

CSTE is currently recruiting host sites in the following program areas:

Birth Defects & NAS
Chronic Disease
Environmental Health
Infectious Diseases (including HAI, Quarantine and Food Safety)
Injury/Drug Overdose
Occupational Health
Oral Health
Maternal and Child Health
Substance Use/Mental Health

Fellows are supported by funding from CDC and matched to a particular program area within the health department. State or local health departments can apply to host more than one fellow, but a separate application must be completed for each position.

Host Site Application Information
Host site applications should describe the fellowship assignment within a specified program area, supervision, support structure and workspace proposed for the fellow. All applications must include a letter of support from the applicant’s State Epidemiologist. Complete applications will be reviewed by CSTE's national office and are evaluated on:

• The scope, quality and diversity of experience offered to the fellow,
• Experience of supervisors in management, epidemiology and mentoring,
• Potential long-term career placement for the fellow,
• Potential professional development opportunities and state financial support provided for the fellow,
• Availability of office space, computer and office/technical support, and
• Letters of support for the mentor seeking a fellow.

Mentorship
Host site applications must include two designated mentors: a doctoral-level primary mentor and a secondary mentor. It is preferred that the secondary mentor have doctoral-level training as well. If there is not a doctoral-level epidemiologist at the health department available to mentor in the subject area of the host site application, an exception can be requested to propose a masters-level mentor. Both mentors must have formal epidemiology training. One or both of the mentors must devote four hours per week to spend with the fellow during the first month of the fellowship and two hours per week for the duration. 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 the program goals.

How to Apply
Visit the following link for complete information and the link to our electronic application: http://www.cstefellows.org.

Please note: The information provided in the “Part D: Host Site Assignment Information” section of the application will be posted on CSTE’s website for potential fellows to review during the application and matching process. Submission and/or acceptance of an application does not guarantee placement of a fellow at your host agency.

If you have any questions about the host site application, please contact CSTE at  aef@cste.org or 770-458-3811.