The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellow
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellows program seeks to build and maintain strong and diverse leadership and a workforce skilled in health policy. For the past 50 years, fellows have had the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with key players in federal health policy and use that leadership experience to improve health, health care, and health policy.
Since 1973, this non-partisan fellowship has offered direct, hands-on policy experience with the most influential congressional and executive offices in the nation’s capital to exceptional mid-career health professionals, behavioral/social scientists, and others with an interest in health and health care who:
- Possess the skills and commitment to using the fellowship experience to provide leadership in improving health, health care, and health policy at the national, state, or local level;
- Bring a depth of expertise and knowledge about health and health care to the policymaking process; and
- Can offer an informed perspective on important and complex challenges facing health policymakers.
More than 300 fellows from across the nation have gained an insider's perspective of the political process, develop unmatched leadership skills, and build a professional network that lasts a lifetime.
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) conducts and administers the fellowship, with funding support from RWJF.
The Program
The fellowship requires a full-time commitment with a minimum 12-month residence in Washington, DC, which prepares individuals to influence the future of health and healthcare across the nation.
The fellowship begins in September with an intensive three-and-a-half-month orientation arranged by the NAM, during which time the fellows meet with national leaders well-versed in health, healthcare policy, health equity, social determinants of health, and structural racism; think tanks and interest groups; key executive branch officials; and members of Congress and their staffs.
The NAM will assist all fellows in setting up placement interviews. Each fellow is, however, solely responsible for selecting and securing their placement in a federal government office in Washington, DC, no later than January 15, 2025.
Fellowship placements generally begin no later than January 31. During these assignments, fellows are full-time, contributing participants in the policy process with members of Congress, a congressional committee, or in the executive branch. Solely under the supervision of the office in which they are placed, fellows typically will:
• Help develop legislative or regulatory proposals;
• Organize hearings, briefings, and stakeholder meetings;
• Meet with constituents; and,
• Brief legislators or senior administration officials on a range of health issues.
