Prepare & Submit Fellowship Application

Overview

Eligible applicants should allow ample time to prepare the required information and submit the online application according to the deadline.

How to prepare

Eligible applicants should follow these steps to prepare required information for the fellowship application.

1. Update your resume or CV.
2. Gather all information about your education; graduate training and skills; work and volunteer experience; publications, presentations, and grants; honors and awards. For work experience, applicants should include the position title, description of their roles responsibilities, and accomplishments, location, and employment dates (start/end date including month and year.)
3. Write a personal statement. The personal statement consists of two fields, each with a 500-word limit, for a total of 1,000 words.
   1. What influenced you to consider a career in public health? (500 words)
   2. How will this fellowship help achieve your goals? (500 words)
4. Identify three or more people to complete recommendation forms on your behalf.
5. Obtain unofficial copies of transcripts for all earned and in-progress college degrees.

Standardized letters of recommendation (SLORs)

• Three recommendation forms are required from persons familiar with the applicant's academic achievements, aspirations, personal qualities, and professional attributes.
  • At least two recommendation forms must be from persons who are not currently employed at the CDC.
• Persons completing recommendation forms should typically be current or former supervisors or professors. Avoid requesting recommendation forms from colleagues or friends.
• Recommendations must be specific to the PHIFP application and written in English.
• Please inform all recommenders to expect a system-generated email from PHIFP (PHIFP@cdc.gov) with instructions for submitting the recommendation forms.
• Recommendation forms are due one week after the PHIFP application deadline (see Applying to be a Fellow). To allow your recommenders time to complete their forms, please submit these requests early.

Transcripts

Your application requires copies of unofficial transcripts for all earned degrees and in-progress degrees.

• All applicants with degrees obtained at a non-U.S. institution, regardless of U.S. citizenship status, must also provide documentation of an academic credentialing evaluation to ensure degree requirements are equivalent.
  • For this requirement, an applicant must provide a course-by-course academic credentialing evaluation for any degree from a non-US academic institution before the application deadline. Degree evaluations that do not list individual courses will not be considered.
  • Your academic credential evaluation must be completed by a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). For more information about academic credential evaluation, a list of member organizations, and to submit the applicant's degrees for evaluation, please visit the NACES website.
  • This requirement applies to all Doctoral, Master's, and Bachelor's level degrees.
• Transcripts must state the applicant's degree of study, courses taken, earned grades, and graduation date if the degree has been conferred.
• Transcripts and other proof of degree completion will not be returned.

Additional training and skills (optional)

Provide documentation of any additional online or in-person training completed. Online training may be completed on massive online open course (MOOC) platforms or online through universities. In-person training may be completed at conferences or professional development seminars.

How to apply

Once you have prepared the above information, you are ready to start the online application. The link for the online application is only provided and active during open application periods.

The application will prompt you for:

• Contact information
• Work and volunteer experience
• Education
• Post-graduate training and skills
• Honors and awards
• Publications, presentations, and grants
• Personal statement
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Three recommendation forms
• Unofficial college or university transcripts

Please complete all sections of the application. When you are finished, select submit. You will receive an email notification stating that your application has been successfully submitted.

All supporting documents (e.g., unofficial transcripts, recommendation forms, evaluation of transcripts) must be submitted by the application deadline.

Official transcripts

If the applicant is accepted into the program, CDC must receive their official transcript by June 30th of the fellowship year. Official transcripts are sent from your educational institution directly to the CDC.

If a degree requires a completed thesis or dissertation, the applicant must have defended their thesis or dissertation on or before May 31st of the year they enter PHIFP. The institution will need to submit the applicant's transcripts with the conferred degree as soon as the degree becomes available.

Contact

Contact the PHIFP program for questions about the application process.