Fellowship Context and MCI Background Information:

The Blum Center at the University of California, Berkeley working in cooperation with UCB’s School of Public Health are proud to announce the Clausen GMCP Fellowships.

The Clausen Fellowship is made possible through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. A.W. (Tom) and Helen Clausen. This competitive fellowship will be awarded to one outstanding student from UC Berkeley at the graduate or undergraduate level.

Microclinic International (MCI) is an international public health non-profit organization. The mission of the MCI is to empower people to prevent and manage diseases in economically depressed and/or conflict-ridden areas of our world. The project centers around a community-driven philosophy, forming partnerships between health care professionals, academia, government, and citizens, recognizing that civic involvement is the life-blood of functioning communities and the foundation of healthy cities.

MCI aims to create a set of “micro-clinics” whereby disenfranchised populations can share access to education, treatment, technology, and social support. The micro-clinic model relies on the efforts of local health care professionals, volunteers, and concerned citizens to combine forces as they improve the health of their communities. Thus, the microclinics are designed to create an infrastructure, which is not owned by a governmental organization or even an NGO, but importantly, the people are the micro-clinics. Pioneered by a UC Berkeley undergraduate in 2005, the first micro-clinics were established in the West Bank and today project sites include Jordan, India, Kenya, and now the United States. The micro-clinic project has the following key features:

• Build peace by strengthening the social infrastructure and providing opportunities for community development;
• Strategically use professional and student knowledge as a catalyst in the start-up phase to form partnerships with local professional and non-profit organizations;
• Transition to community-managed and community-owned healthcare;
• Continuously evaluate what succeeds and fails at the local level;
• Shared access to education, social support, and appropriate technologies;
• The model can be replicated to address other diseases and health issues such as, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, smoking, obesity, asthma, TB, and substance abuse, or to address a combination of multi-factoral diseases like hypertension and diabetes in many different geo-political contexts. For further information on MCI, please visit http://mci.org/

Fellowship Description:

The Clausen Fellow will be responsible for assisting in significant program design and implementation in rural communities in the Southern United States. The micro-clinics will be focused on diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. The Fellow will work directly with the Executive Vice-President for Program Management in the development of this large-scale program. The Fellowship period will be six months, beginning in June 2011, during which the fellow would need to relocate to the project site. The total stipend for the six-month fellowship period is $7,500.

The specific responsibilities of the position may include helping the Executive Vice President:

Strategize about the establishment of micro-clinics and how they can best serve the local populations.
Establish partnerships with key institutions and create project infrastructure
Facilitate health training and education for volunteers and participants
Develop program strategies
Monitor the progress of the micro-clinics
Complete reports which make recommendations for future changes and suggest feasibility for wider application

Skills/Background Desired:

Students in any undergraduate or graduate program are eligible for consideration. Expertise in public health, education, community development, or another relevant field is preferred.

Candidates should demonstrate:

Experience in community health programming.
Familiarity with rural health programs a plus.
Background in education, and/or health education a plus
Outstanding leadership record
Ability to develop, implement and evaluate projects
Excellent organizational, communication, and writing skills
Professionalism, the ability to consistently meet deadlines, take initiative, a positive attitude and a willingness to find solutions.
Fellow will be expected to organize his/her time and will not be micro-managed, excellent time management skills required.
Experience working with the Global Micro-Clinic Project and/or other health and development organizations strongly preferred.

Application Materials:

1. Fellowship Application Essay: no more than 3 double-spaced pages addressing the following categories:

Knowledge: State the goals and your expected contributions to the project, including any relevant knowledge of diabetes/cardiovascular disease/obesity, community development, and health care experience. Please clearly note any experience in rural health care.
Leadership: Please discuss your leadership/team-building potential and how you would be able to help coordinate the establishment of micro-clinics.
Cultural competency: Please discuss your experience working with diverse cultural environments, whether internationally or domestically. Include any other relevant information such as interest working in a given region, and experience living in rural settings.
Creative capital: The micro-clinic model was first piloted to serve diabetic individuals (http://www.gmcp.org). What insights would you contribute to a program designed for rural communities in the Southern United States?
Commitment: This is a chance for you to share anything else about yourself and why you would be committed to this project.

2. Please submit two letters of recommendation outlining why you would be a good candidate for this position. One letter must be an academic reference and one must be from an extra-curricular, volunteer, or employment reference.

3. Please include a CV which details work experience, honors/awards, educational background (area of study), complete contact information (name, address, email, phone numbers), community service involvement, and other relevant information. If you are applying for other fellowships or internships, please indicate this in CV.

4. Please include a transcript.

Deadline:

All application materials including letters of reference must be uploaded to http://tinyurl.com/gmcp-2011, no later than 25 April, 2011 at 11:59 pm (PST).