Fellow Eligibility & Requirements

Key points

  • Applicants should read this page carefully to ensure they meet all eligibility requirements.
  • Details are provided for the education, research, relocation, and citizenship requirements.

Overview

Interested candidates must meet the eligibility requirements to apply for PHIFP.

Eligibility

Education

Doctoral level candidates

All doctoral candidates must have a doctoral degree (PhD, MD, PharmD, DrPH) from an accredited academic institution in one of the following:

  • Public health, medicine, healthcare/health services research.
  • Computer science, data science, or medical/public health informatics.
  • Statistics or epidemiology.
  • Engineering.
  • Operations research.

Master's level candidates

All master's level candidates must have a master's degree (MPH, MS, MSc) from an accredited academic institution in one of the following:

  • Public health, medicine, healthcare/health services research.
  • Computer science, data science, or medical/public health informatics.
  • Statistics or epidemiology.
  • Engineering.
  • Operations research.

Additionally, master's level candidates must have at least 1 year of documented full-time work or volunteer experience in the same field as their qualifying degree.

Citizenship

Applicants must verify that they are not a citizen of a country designated as a state sponsor of terrorism per this US Department of State website: State Sponsors of Terrorism.

Applicants must be in one of the following groups to be considered for the program.

  • US citizens
  • US Permanent Residents
  • F1 visa holders
    • Prior to the program start date, F1 applicants must have an OPT with EAD that is valid for the entire first year of the program AND have STEM eligibility.

CDC's Human Resource Office/Immigration Office will consult with non-US citizen candidates who advance in the selection process to discuss work authorization.

Research

PHIFP applicants should document any research or evaluation experience that they completed during or after their academic training.

Acceptable experience includes publications, thesis writing and defense, poster presentations, and/or a research or evaluation proposal.

Relocation

Accepted fellows must relocate to their assigned CDC site. Most assignments are in Atlanta, GA (85%) or Washington, DC (10%). Fellows are not eligible to work remotely. Relocation costs will not be paid.