Excellence in Mentorship for Unity, Resilience, and Growth in Health Leaders Fellowship Program - Elimination of health disparities is an Overarching Goal of Healthy People 2030. A well-trained, diverse, and culturally responsive federal public health and Maternal and Child Health (MCH) workforce is imperative to advance health equity practices and policies to eliminate health disparities. In response to MP-CPI-23-001, the Health Equity Leadership Development Initiative, the Excellence in Mentorship of UnderRepresented Groups (EMURG) for Health Equity Leaders Fellowship Program will recruit up to 30 talented graduate fellows who are from underrepresented populations in the current Department of Health and Human Services (UP-DHSS) leadership workforce. Selection criteria will be refined with the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and faculty partners from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and include the graduate scholar’s demonstrated commitment to eliminating health disparities using equity and evidence-based approaches, especially focusing on MCH and individuals with disabilities. The EMURG for Health Equity Leaders Fellows will receive a comprehensive interdisciplinary and mentored evidence-based experiential learning foundation integrated with the OMH curriculum to complement the fellow’s 9-12-month DHSS-based fellowship. The EMURG for Health Equity Leaders Fellowship will provide education and training seminars to build professional and leadership skills and knowledge of culturally relevant and equity-based practices and policies to eliminate health disparities. The goals of the EMURG for Health Equity Leaders Fellowship Program are to (1) Recruit and support up to 10 graduate scholars per year (for total of up to 30 fellows) for the EMURG for Health Equity Leaders Fellowship Program (2) Implement a 2-week Orientation and ongoing Public Health, Health Disparities Solutions, and Leadership Seminars including: (a) Prevention of Health Disparities across Life Course, (b) Office of Minority Health Curriculum, (c) Political Determinants of Health, (d) Application of Cultural and Linguistic Competency Principles in Health Care, (e) Families as Faculty, (f) Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, (g) CDC Winnable Battles, (h) attendance at the Room to Grow: Journey to Cultural and Linguistic Competency Conference, and (i) Developmental Disabilities Self-Advocacy Day in Annapolis; (3) Disseminate information through DHHS, academic, and national health policy presentations, and peer-reviewed publications and; (4) Increase the number of individuals from UP-DHSS who enter the federal public health leadership workforce. Mentored learning experiences will emphasize the need to develop culturally congruent healthcare systems, social and political determinants of health, public health core competencies, and strategies to promote health equity-focused solutions for health disparities. EMURG for Health Equity Leaders Fellows will complete a Public Health and Social Sciences- Individual Development Plan to guide their DHHS work in collaboration with their mentor(s). EMURG Health Equity Fellows will disseminate evidence and equity-based research and policy recommendations to the DHHS host agency, CDC, Kennedy Krieger Institute, and national research and policy meetings. EMURG for Health Equity Leaders Fellowship will be evaluated through multi-informant assessments to measure and track career decisions and knowledge, attitudes, and practices necessary to prepare for federal leadership careers in DHHS agencies. The EMURG for Health Equity Leaders Fellowship is anticipated to address the gap in fellowship opportunities for individuals committed to health equity practices who are from populations underrepresented in current federal leadership positions.
