DECADES OF
IMPACT
“Did the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship help me in my career? I don’t thinkso. But did it change my career? Absolutely, absolutely.”
–Philip Marion, 1994-95 fellow
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship is more than a career milestone—it is a transformative experience that changes the way fellows think about health care and their role in shaping it.
That transformation doesn’t endin Washington, though,itbegins there.When fellowsreturn home, they carry their knowledge and experiences back to their communities,sharing insights with colleagues, inspiring students, and putting new programs into motionthat create lasting change intheir communities and across the nation. Some championlegislation, others redesign systems of care, and many shift their focus from the health ofindividuals to the health of entire populations.
Upon completion of the program, fellows also have the opportunity to connect with fellowsbeyond their cohort through the program’s vast alumni network. This network becomes asource of collaboration, mentorship, and inspiration, enabling fellows to amplify theirimpact by working together toconfront the nation’s toughest health challenges.
Bringing Knowledge Home
Alumni Community
Bringing Knowledge Home
Many fellows return home from their time in Washington feeling inspired. During theprogram, they applied their practical experience in healthcare to the world of policy. Afterthefellowship, many reverse course, applying their newly acquired policy expertise to theworld of healthcare. Whether implementing programs on a large or small scale, theoutcomes of their post-fellowship effortscontinueto improve the health of the nation,carrying forward the momentum of their work on Capitol Hill.
1973: Defining Eligibility in Academia
Throughout the fellowship year, the program staff plans and hosts events to bring the cohort, their families, and sometimes alumni together to catch up and bond. These events have included bar-b-ques at the program directors house the week before the fellowship officially begins, monthly breakfasts at a cafe close to Capitol Hill during the portion of the fellowship that fellows are in their placements, new fellow and alumni happy hours to encourage cross-cohort mingling, and much more.
A 1973 Board memo outlined the original eligibility model, highlighting early selectivity and a narrow definition of who could shape health policy:
“The line obviously had to be drawn somewhere in accordance with definable and understandable criteria, and it was on this basis that the decision was made to set the parameters of the program in terms of academic health centers and other institutions with medical schools—a total of 114 institutions. It was considered highly probably that the mid-career academic faculty members who would most benefit from the fellowship experience would be found in this group of institutions.”
1975: Expanding to Include the Social Sciences
The 1975 program brochure shows the first expansion in eligibility to health professionals in the social sciences. Institutions were still allowed to submit only one nomination each, with the selection process remaining centralized through the Institute of Medicine.
1980s: Welcoming Economists into Health
The 1983 brochure explicitly included economics as an eligible field. Fellows continued to be drawn from mid-career academic faculty in health-related disciplines.
The 1983 brochure reflects the Fellowship’s acknowledgment that economic expertise is critical to national health policymaking.
1994: Expanding Beyond Academia
To better reflect the changing health marketplace, in 1994, the program expanded the institutions that could nominate a applicant from only academic health centers to include providers and institutions in the health care system, such as HMOs and related community-based organizations.
2009: Everyone Has a Stake in Health Policy
The Fellows program has moved far beyond its original academic clinician roots. Today’s applicants come from public health, nonprofit leadership, government agencies, and academic institutions. Unlike earlier years, candidates can now choose to be sponsored by the National Academy of Medicine or their home institution.
COMING TO WASHINGTON TO…
LEARN THE PROCESS
People apply to the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program from across the nation and with diverse backgrounds and disciplines, but accepted fellows all share the same underlying goal: to learn how health policy is made so that they can become more effective at improving the health of the nation.
01
GET PATIENTS THE CARE THEY NEED
02
CLOSE HEALTH EQUITY GAPS
03
BRING FEDERAL RESOURCES TO HOME COMMUNITY
04
GET PATIENTS THE CARE THEY NEED
05
IMPACT CHANGE ON A POPULATION LEVEL
06
BRIDGE RESEARCH AND POLICY
The Fellowship isn’t just a year in Washington; it’s the start of a lifelong professional network.
Advisory Board members select cohorts with intention, and aim to balance geography, background, political views, and professional focus. The goal is not just to assemble impressive résumés, but to create a group that can challenge and learn from one another.