The Association of Health Care Journalists International Health Study Fellowship is a Commonwealth Fund-supported six-month program allowing veteran U.S.-based health care journalists to pursue a story or project comparing a facet of the U.S. health care system to that of another country. For 2020, the focus will be on developed European countries in comparison with the United States’ health care system.
Fellows pursue the projects with the support of their newsrooms or freelance outlets, which commit to publish or air the work. The project could evaluate a key component of the health care system, a health outcome, access, performance, providers, efficiency, or other focal point.
Guidance is provided by AHCJ fellowship leaders through customized seminars, conference calls, and email consultations. The fellowship covers the cost of traveling to the seminars and the international reporting sites, as well as lodging and meal and incidental expense stipends.
The 2020 fellows are:
- April Dembosky, health reporter, KQED-San Francisco
- Elana Gordon, health and science reporter/producer, The World/Public Radio International
- Michele Marill, freelancer writing for Health Affairs
- Robert Weisman, age beat reporter, The Boston Globe