ISuA3 - Establishing an Administrative Fellowship Program: A Practical Toolkit to Support and Develop Future Community Health Center Leaders

While hospitals and health systems have trained and promoted administrative fellows through their executive ranks for 45+ years, health center fellowship opportunities remain scarce (an online search of “FQHC administrative fellowship” only produced two results, with our organization, Community Health Center, Inc., constituting one of those results). This session is designed to provide an overview of administrative fellowships, items to consider prior to implementation, and practical tools to recruit, train, and place fellows into permanent roles. This framework is designed to be flexible, allowing leaders to customize their content and future fellows’ experience. As former administrative fellows ourselves, we strongly support these training programs, and realize that with the many challenges facing the health care industry, it is important to invest in the future leaders within the field. Unlike strictly academic programs, post-fellowship, candidates are uniquely prepared to think practically, critically, and innovatively, having obtained the necessary skills to support and implement the essential changes in health care. We hope this session will prompt health center leaders to consider establishing administrative fellowships at their organizations to develop the next generation of health care professionals who are passionate about the health of their community and committed to superior patient care.