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AAFP launches primary care innovation fellowship

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AAFP launches primary care innovation fellowship

AAFP launches primary care innovation fellowship July 26, 2017

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) is a medical organization focused on health information technology solutions that will help independent family care physicians as they work to provide better quality healthcare to their patients. This organization recently announced its first Primary Care Innovation Fellowship with a goal of improving the usability and interoperability of health information technology.

Steven Waldren, M.D., director of the AAFP’s Alliance for eHealth Innovation, stated that the organization is “looking for people with a passion for family medicine and a desire to make a difference in the usability and interoperability of health information technology for family medicine.”

Fellowship applicants must have a passion for improving primary care, family practice, and healthcare technology. The fellowship recipient will be expected to devote at least four hours a week to completing a project related to health information technology.

Projects completed this year and in each subsequent year will help AAFP’s Alliance for eHealth Innovation in addressing three main health IT issues: “usability, interoperability and closing the functionality gap between what physicians have and what they need in their electronic health record systems.”

Among other considerations involved with availability to work on the project and to travel to conferences, to be eligible for the fellowship the applicant must be:

  • A member of the AAFP, in practice or teaching, and out of residency and fellowship; or
  • In a family medicine residency or fellowship with a letter of support from the residency or fellowship program; or
  • A Master’s or doctoral student in the domains of usability, data science, or industrial and systems engineering with a letter of support from the program; or
  • A practicing expert in the domains of usability, data science, or industrial and systems engineering interested in primary care with a letter stating intent to direct your work to the realm of primary care in the future
  • A U.S. citizen

The deadline to submit an application for the fellowship is August 31.

About the Author

Leona Rajaee is Elation’s Content Marketing Manager, bringing a unique blend of expertise in health policy and communication. She holds a BS in Journalism and Science, Technology, and Society from California Polytechnic State University and an MS in Health Policy and Law from the University of California, San Francisco. Since joining Elation, Leona has passionately contributed to the company’s blog, utilizing her knowledge to illuminate the complexities of health policy.

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