Announcing EMSC Scholars and Fellows Programs

The Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Program was initially authorized by Congress in 1984. Since then, the HRSA-EMSC Program has grown awareness, tools and partnerships to drive improvements in pediatric emergency care delivery across the nation. Each of the six arms of HRSA-EMSC plays a distinct role within and across the emergency care landscape; together they have led to a significant transformation in pediatric emergency care. The pillars of HRSA-EMSC include: 1) Workforce Infrastructure, 2) Improvement Science, 3) Evidence Generation, 4) Accountability, 5) Systems Integration, and 6) Innovation.

Within the EMSC space, the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center (EIIC) provides other EMSC grantees and the larger emergency care community with training, support and tools to improve pediatric readiness of emergency care systems across the continuum of care. The EIIC curates evidenced-based pediatric emergency care resources, leverages quality improvement methodology to minimize morbidity and mortality in children, and utilizes a systems-based approach to align priorities and efforts across diverse organizations.

In an effort to grow future leaders within the EMSC space, the EIIC offers two opportunities to engage early career clinicians and health systems trainees. All clinicians (i.e., emergency medical technicians, paramedics, nurse, advanced practice providers, physicians) and graduate students or early career faculty within related fields (e.g., health policy, healthcare administration, and public health) are encouraged to apply now until January 15, 2021. The opportunitites offered are the following:

1) EMSC Scholars Program: designed to support early career (<5yrs post-training) clinicians and health-systems professionals to become future leaders in the EMSC space. During this 1-2 year program, EMSC Scholars will work alongside EIIC leaders to develop and implement a unique project focused on a key area(s) of interest. EMSC Scholars’ projects cross two or more domains of interest including advocacy, knowledge translation, knowledge dissemination, marketing and communications, prehospital pediatric readiness, pediatric readiness of emergency departments, quality improvement methodology, analytics, workforce development, health policy, healthcare administration, research, and value-based care. Appointments: 1-2 years, Time commitment: 2-4 hours/week.

2) EMSC Fellows Program: designed to support trainees and early career professionals with an opportunity to engage in EIIC-led efforts to better understand systems-based strategies for improvement. Fellows are invited to serve on national steering committees to better understand the work of EMSC stakeholders. Fellows will be assigned to a single domain of focus and one or more EIIC mentors who will provide ongoing support and opportunities for participation. Appointments: 1-2 years, Time commitment: 2-4 hours per month, participation in steering committee meetings and associated activities.

For more information about the EMSC Scholars and Fellows Programs and to apply, please visit the EIIC website here.