The Vermont and Granite State (New Hampshire) chapters of Physicians for a National Health Program are once again offering five-week, full-time internships for at least six students during the summer of 2022. Medical students and students of other health professions will each be provided a stipend of $1,250. This internship will be “remote” again this year, with eminent guest speakers and discussion leaders from medicine, industry, and government. An effort is made to include viewpoints from all sides of a given issue.
The primary goal of the internship is to cultivate leaders who will fuse a solid understanding of health policy with the basic values of kindness and human decency so that they can transform the U.S. health care system to be on the one hand efficient, and on the other humane.
The likely schedule will be June 13 through July 15, with some orientation time before the first day (June 8 or 9 and June 11 or 12), and a holiday on the Fourth of July. The schedule may change, depending on the academic calendars of the interns selected.
There are three aspects to the internship:
1. READINGS/DIDACTIC AND DISCUSSION SESSIONS ON HEALTH POLICY
The top priority for the internship is education, including readings and didactic/discussion sessions by video conference on the following topics:
- Health care systems: How all other developed countries provide coverage to all their citizens throughout the life cycle at far lower cost compared to the U.S.
- The hodge-podge tactics for delivering and financing health care in the United States; our reliance on federal funding; and the obstacles to state-based reform.
- The history of the U.S. multi-payer system, including reform efforts at both the national and state levels.
- The effectiveness of both demand-side reforms (Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare) and supply-side reforms (community health centers, Veterans Administration, Indian Health Service, etc.).
- “Market failures” encountered when attempting to apply market forces to the health sector.
- Disparities in the delivery of medical services and in outcomes in different U.S. communities and populations.
- Advantages and shortcomings of various reform models:
- voucher-based reforms;
- categorical reforms (income-based, disease-based, etc.); and
- universal reforms, including single-payer reform
- Cost-control strategies, including:
- ACO/HMO structures;
- bundled payments;
- global budgeting for hospitals;
- centralized vs. free-market approaches to distribution of health resources;
- approaches toward reducing the cost of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and equipment; and
- current sources of waste in the U.S. health care system.
- The relationship between reform and planning of health information systems and health coverage.
- The business model of the pharmaceutical industry, including research priorities, marketing strategies, and factors that lead to extravagant drug prices.
This educational component will include a substantial reading and audio-visual media curriculum.
2. VIDEO CONFERENCE MEETINGS WITH THOUGHT LEADERS FROM GOVERNMENT; THE PRIVATE SECTOR; AND SAFETY NET AND OTHER HEALTH INSTITUTIONS, AS WELL AS DISCUSSIONS WITH ACTIVISTS
Interns will interview physicians and other professionals working in community health centers, free clinics, a community outreach team, a concierge practice, and a Veterans Administration facility. They will interview hospital and private insurance administrators, as well as other private sector leaders. Interns will also meet with advocates on various sides of the health reform effort and with health sector leaders within state government.
3. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & STRATEGIES TO FOSTER PUBLIC EDUCATION: PUBLIC SPEAKING, WORKING WITH MEDIA, OUTREACH TO PEERS
- Didactic sessions are organized around strategies for working with traditional and social media; using local cable access TV or radio for education and advocacy; and organizing peers/developing SNaHP chapters.
- Interns are encouraged to develop an outreach/education plan directed at medical students and other health professions students.
- Interns are expected to make two presentations on health policy during the internship. Each talk may be targeted to an audience of their choice (e.g. peers, religious congregations, business associations, the general public, etc.).
REQUIREMENTS:
Electronics: Each intern will need access to a computer, a cell phone, and the internet.
This is a full-time program, with interns accountable to the program Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. ET to 5:00 p.m. ET. Occasionally, a speaker may only be available at 7:30 a.m. ET, or may not be able to meet until after 5:00 p.m. ET, but scheduled videoconference time is generally 4 to 6 hours per workday. Interns should think of the program as being as rigorous as a graduate program, with reading and projects that may require working evenings or weekends, but any weekend events would be optional.
The skills listed in the application are not prerequisites for this internship. They are asked merely to have an idea of our incoming interns’ skills, which interns might be of help to each other, and which skill instruction may be desired in our curriculum.
ELIGIBILITY:
Medical students from any medical school or other health professions school are eligible to apply. Students accepted to medical school, to start in the fall of 2022, are especially encouraged to apply.
If you are passionate about achieving a publicly-funded universal health care system, but the size of the stipend prohibits you from applying, please contact Dr. Betty Keller at bjkellermd@gmail.com.
APPLICATIONS:
If you have a resume, please review the application here, determine which parts are not included in your resume, and be sure to fill out those portions of the application that are not in your resume.
Please send a cover letter, your resume if you have one, and this application to:
- Ted Cody, M.D., tscody@vermontel.net AND
- Betty Keller, M.D., bjkellermd@gmail.com
On the application, for education and work experience that is on your resume, you may simply state “see resume.”
We will interview by telephone or video conference. We plan to accept four interns in mid-January and additional interns in early March.
We look forward to meeting and working with students from the classes of 2025 and 2026!
PRECEPTORS, NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Betty Keller, M.D., President, Vermont PNHP
bjkellermd@gmail.com
Marvin Malek, M.D., Past President, Vermont PNHP
mmalek66@gmail.com
Ken Dolkart, M.D., Granite State PNHP
kenneth.dolkart@gmail.com
Ted Cody, M.D., Secretary, Vermont PNHP
tscody@vermontel.net
