We launched the first U.S. Fellowship in Media and Global Health to teach physicians-in-training to use various media channels to advocate and inform on global health issues. Fellows are chosen from a national pool of medical students committed to a career in global health. The Fellow learns how reporting on global health issues can impact health and human rights efforts, foundation and government health assistance, and individual health choices.
This opportunity provides medical students with 12 months of practical training in the fundamentals of journalism, communications, and global health reporting on a variety of media platforms, including print, online, broadcast, social and digital media. Each year, the fellow participates in three rotations over the course of the fellowship year. She or he spends the fall quarter (September through December) as an MA student in journalism with Stanford’s Graduate Program in Journalism. In the winter, the fellow interns at a broadcast news outlet. And in the spring, the fellow completes a capstone project in the field.
We want to grow the audience for global health stories and we want to make sure the stories that are told have accurate information. To help physicians engage with journalists, we designed this program to teach fellows:
Upon completion, the Fellow will produce an in-depth article or other substantive media creation on a global health topic .
The Fellow will return to medical training with the expectation that in addition to treating patients, conducting research or teaching, she or he will also become an advocate and spokesperson for global health issues.