Joseph L. Henry Oral Health Fellowship in Health Policy Leadership
The Joseph L. Henry Oral Health Fellowship in Health Policy Leadership is a collaborative effort between the Office for Culture and Community Engagement (OCCE) at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). The Oral Health Fellowship is a one-year, full-time, academic degree-granting program designed to create oral health leaders who will pursue careers in health policy, public health practice, and academia. Fellows complete academic work leading to a Master of Public Health degree at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, or a Master of Public Administration degree at the Harvard Kennedy School with prior MPH. The program is intended to incorporate the critical skills taught in schools of public health, government, business, and dental medicine with supervised practicum, leadership forums and seminar series conducted by leading scholars and nationally recognized leaders in health and health policy.
The program is designed to prepare oral health leaders who will, over time, improve the capacity of the health care system to address the health needs for all, with emphasis on disadvantaged, vulnerable, and uninsured populations. To accomplish this, the program will:
Provide strong academic training, including a graduate degree (MPH or MPA) for highly qualified dentists.
Enhance the leadership ability of dentists, offering them substantive knowledge in health policy and management, while creating a network of oral health leaders capable of advancing successfully among the public, non-profit/private, and academic sectors.
- Provide each fellow with mentoring by Harvard senior faculty and administrators and access to national leaders in oral health, health policy and public health practice.
- Provide firsthand experience in non-profit/private and public sectors, allowing the fellows to integrate academic leadership training with its practical application in a real world setting.
- Bring together the faculty and resources of Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Kennedy School, and other Harvard professional schools to provide an enhanced curriculum that addresses issues of public health, oral health, health policy, and practice.
- Utilize resources at the Office for Culture and Community Engagement, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Dental Medicine to enhance the networking, career development, and career advancement of participating fellows.
Requirements
- Participate in fellowship activities such as leadership forums, seminar series, site visits, journal club, practicum and receive mentoring from senior faculty and health leaders.
- Complete the course work leading to a MPH degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. For those with a prior MPH, complete course work leading to a MPA degree from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Eligibility
- Dentist with a DDS or DMD and an active dental license
- Completion of residency or at least one year of experience in practice preferred
- Experience or interest in addressing and improving the health needs for all, with emphasis on disadvantaged, vulnerable, and uninsured populations
- Strong evidence of leadership experience or potential
Benefits
- Financial support for Master’s degree tuition
- Travel for professional meetings and site visits
