Make Your Life Your Argument!

The Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows Program, a program of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship™ and the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, provides service opportunities and support for aspiring health professionals who seek to help the underserved in Chicago and its surrounding communities. With the generous help of Chicago-based contributors, the Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows Program proudly announces its sixteenth year of uniting a diverse range of health professions students, faculty, and community-based providers who share a commitment to public service.

Each spring, 30 Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows are selected from applications submitted by students in a diversity of fields, including but not limited to medicine, nursing, dentistry, public health, social work, psychology, pharmacy, physical therapy, law, nutrition, art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and acupuncture.  Fellowship projects include the following:

• a minimum of 200 hours of direct service through an existing community based organization in the Chicago area;

• a supervisor, or Site Mentor, at the host organization and a Faculty Mentor at the student’s school;

• monthly progress reports on the Fellow’s project;

• a written report at the conclusion of the project, including recommendations for ways in which the most valuable aspects of the Fellow’s project and experiences can be replicated or sustained.

• an opportunity to be part of an interdisciplinary group of students committed to working in underserved communities

In addition to the service project, Fellows work in groups to organize public symposia on pertinent public health topics or community service outreach activities.  Fellows are required to attend monthly meetings, all symposia and service days, a weekend orientation, and the annual Schweitzer Fellows Celebration Event at the conclusion of the program year.

Students are welcome to submit proposals for an original project that reflects Dr. Schweitzer’s ethic of Reverence for Life or for the continuation of a project initiated by a previous Schweitzer Fellow.

No prescribed setting is essential for a successful application, in the spirit of Dr. Schweitzer’s teaching to find your own special place or way to serve and to make your life your argument.

Fellows receive a stipend of $2,000 (paid in three installments) both to underscore the seriousness of their work and to ensure that students who are already struggling financially are not discouraged from participating. Any student who will be enrolled at least part-time in a health-related, graduate-level-degree-granting program during the Fellowship year is welcome to apply. Please note: Two exceptions to this are medical and podiatry  students who will be entering their third year of medical school. Medical and podiatry students who will be in their first, second or fourth year during the Fellowship year are eligible.

Eligibility:

Prior to Applying: Interested students should investigate and reflect on the unmet health-related needs that exist in Chicago and its surrounding communities and on the ways in which their own energies and talents might contribute, even in small ways, to ameliorating one or more of these problems. In proposing a project, then, keep in mind how your idea addresses those unmet health needs and might be of enduring value to the community. For guidance on national and local health priorities as established by Healthy People 2020, please visit: http://www.healthypeople.gov

Prospective applicants are invited to an information session. Many information sessions will be held at university campuses.  To view a schedule of information sessions, click here. Information subject to change- we recommend calling ahead to find out more.

Applications must include the following:

1. 2012-13 Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellowship Application (available by clicking here)
2. A brief résumé (no longer than 2 pages)

DEADLINE TO APPLY:

The deadline for the 2011-2012 Fellowship year has passed.  To apply for the 2012-13 Fellowship, submit your application no later than 5pm on February 1st, 2012.

For further information, please contact:
Ray Wang, Program Director,

Janna Stansell, Program Associate,

or call 312 372-4292 ext. 24

or visit www.schweitzerfellowship.org