The Rollins Epidemiology Fellowship program is a 2-year intensive training program for early career epidemiologists in Georgia. Fellows are placed in one of Georgia’s 18 health districts or at the Georgia Department of Public Health in Epidemiologist 1 roles. Their experiences are supplemented by competency-based programming and professional development opportunities.
Open Positions by District
Applications are open!
Fellowship FAQs
What is the Rollins COVID-19 Epidemiology Fellowship Program?
The Rollins Epidemiology Fellowship Program is a 2-year intensive, applied epidemiology training program in state and local public health in Georgia. The goal of the program is to cultivate talented epidemiologists well-equipped to address current public health threats and eager to apply their knowledge, creativity, and passion to a career in epidemiology.
Who is eligible to apply for the program?
The fellowship program is designed for recent (within the past 3 years) Master of Public Health (MPH) graduates in epidemiology or a related concentration. Recent graduates from any CEPH-accredited school or program of public health can apply; those who attended MPH programs in Georgia or in the Southeast are particularly encouraged to apply.
What are the salary and benefits for this position?
Effective June 1, 2023, the fellowship salary will be $57,000. Fellows are hired as full-time Emory employees and have access to the health, leave, education, and other employer-provided benefits. For additional information, please visit: hr.emory.edu.
Are there additional professional development benefits?
Yes, $2,000 is available to each fellow over the course of their fellowship for professional development opportunities. This can be used for conference-related travel and expenses, additional trainings, certifications related to work in the health district, etc.
Does this fellowship count towards any loan forgiveness programs?
Yes, Emory University is a non-profit organization and therefore the two years in this fellowship do count towards the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for federal student loans. For additional information, please visit: https://studentaid.gov/pslf/
What is the application process and timeline?
a. Review the open Fellowship positions and affiliated projects posted in early March on this website. Applications will be open on Emory’s HR Portal.
b. We are receiving and reviewing applications on a rolling basis through April 2023. The application deadline is April 21, 2023. Initial screenings and interviews will happen through April, and qualified applicant information will be sent to health districts for review. Health District interviews will occur in April and May, with final decisions made in May and June of 2023.
c. The fellowship will officially start July 31, 2023. The first week of this program (July 31 – August 4) is a week-long in-person training and conference event at Emory University before fellows start with their respective health district sites on Monday, August 7th.
What does daily work look like for fellows?
The fellows’ day-to-day responsibilities are assigned by a site supervisor at their placement site based on the health district’s priorities. Each fellow’s experience will vary and no two days are the same! Fellows will work within the local health district’s epidemiology team as a level 1 epidemiologist and can expect to engage with a variety of epidemiologic activities such as case and outbreak investigations, surveillance system data entry, data cleaning and management, data analysis, and preparing epidemiology reports.
What projects are fellows expected to complete?
In addition to regular daily duties, the fellows need to complete an oral or poster presentation, an evaluation or quality improvement project, and a significant analytic project assigned by or developed together with the site supervisor. Information on suggested projects for each district is provided in the position descriptions above.
What additional training and mentorship is provided through the fellowship?
a. Fellows will be given support and training by the fellowship program based on six epidemiology-relevant core competencies. Past trainings have covered topics like public health ethics, strengths-based leadership, public speaking, data analysis using R, and media training.
b. Beyond support provided by the health district team, all fellows will be assigned an Emory-based academic mentor. This is one of the most unique aspects to our program. This mentor is an Emory faculty or staff member who has professional experience working with or within Georgia’s public health system. Mentorship groups meet regularly to discuss career guidance, project advice, and general mentorship.