2019 Summer Intramural Fellowship Program

Position Title:

Junior Service Fellow (multiple positions)

Open Period:

March 5, 2019 to March 26, 2019

Position Information:

Temporary, Full Time, not to Exceed 89 days

Salary Level:

$26.94 per hour

Duty Location:

Rockville, MD

Who May Apply:

United States Citizens

Job Summary

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a component of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is soliciting applications for time-limited Fellowship opportunities. AHRQ’s mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable and to work with the HHS and other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used.

Fellowship Program Description

The AHRQ Intramural Fellowship Program provides opportunities for individuals to work with leading health services researchers in the conduct and support of research on “real life” issues that support the Agency’s mission and contributes to improvements in health care. Fellows are also afforded the opportunity to work with administrative protocols, gain access to AHRQ-sponsored data sets, and apply statistical analysis methods to broaden the Fellow’s understanding of health services research and the Agency’ effect on the healthcare system.

Junior fellows are generally involved as part of a team responsible for conducting research and performing research-related activities. At this level, research studies generally have clear and specific objectives and involve investigations having a limited number of variables and self-directed work in planning and carrying out research activities.

Topics for research projects include:

Work with staff in the Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement on:

Assessing Primary Care Spending in the United States and Associated Factors Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and MarketScan data. The Fellow will help to create a general framework determining what healthcare encounters in the U.S. are primary care; create Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and MarketScan-specific algorithms to estimate primary care spending; and program in SAS using multiple years of MEPS and MarketScan data to examine primary care spending as a percentage of all personal healthcare spending and explore the related factors.
Assisting the Electronic-Care (E-Care) Planning for People Living with Multiple Chronic Conditions and Disability project to develop an accessible, interoperable, person-centered electronic (e-) care plan, including standard data elements, that facilitates movement of clinical, contextual/social determinants of health (SDoH), and individual goals and preferences data across healthcare settings (e.g., primary care, specialty care, hospital, community). The Fellow will participate in a multi-agency research team developing and testing an interoperable e-care plan. The Fellow will also develop a white paper/manuscript detailing what is currently being done in e-care planning for people with multiple chronic conditions (e.g., standard elements that capture clinical data, contextual information/SDoH, and an individual’s goals, preferences, and values; the information technology solutions (what platforms are being used; how people are addressing the challenge of interoperability, etc., and how clinical teams are implementing the plans).
Assessing the Impact of Preventive Health Services. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Program requests a summer fellow to assess utilization of preventive health services and disparities in receipt of such services by various subpopulations. This will involve conducting quantitative analyses using the AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Areas that may be examined could include behavioral and mental health, women’s health, social determinants of health, and other preventive health services.
Developing Predictive Analytic Models to Estimate Healthcare Cost and Utilization. Traditional approaches in health services research rely on rigorous methods, the availability of recent data, and peer review to assure the highest quality of analyses. However, some decision-makers must make policy decisions quickly with the current information available and cannot wait until new analyses are complete. This project develops predictive analytic models to estimate healthcare cost and utilization using AHRQ data resources. An important objective is to explore how predictive analytics and related methods may be applied and contribute to understanding healthcare issues.
Using Real World Data to Enhance Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Evidence Reports. Using data resources available to AHRQ (including Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). and Marketscan), explore real-world utilization (including patient and provider characteristics and setting of use) of diagnostics and treatments that are reviewed in EPC evidence reports and changes in utilization over time after publication of AHRQ reports.
Analyzing the Mobile Health Technology (mHealth) portfolio in the Division of Health IT mHealth Portfolio Analysis. The mHealth portfolio is one of 10 developmental research projects that focuses on using mHealth to facilitate the dissemination and implementation of findings from patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) into clinical practice.
Conducting a portfolio analysis of AHRQ funded CEPI primary care grants. The Summer Fellow will assist in defining the search strategy and abstraction forms, screening grants for inclusion, cleaning and abstracting data, running descriptive analyses, and drafting a report of findings. Depending on time availability, they may also participate in presentations and drafting a manuscript.

Work with staff in the Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends on the Community Health Center Availability and the Use, Cost, and Quality of Health Care. This project will involve assisting in a project using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey – Household Component, a survey of individuals and their medical providers, including costs and quality measures for sampled providers. The project will involve identifying Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) visits within the MEPS-HC by matching provider information in the MEPS (name, address, phone number) to information on the universe of FQHC delivery sites available from HRSA and the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services Provider of Services file.

Work with staff in Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations (OEREP) to Examine Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Service Utilization Patterns and Outcomes. The Fellow will design and conduct a study to examine a MCH-focused topic using the HCUP or MEPS data. Knowledge of statistical methods and prior experience with statistical programs such as SAS/STATA/R required. In addition, the fellow will have the opportunity to work with core staff on AHRQ’s Safety Program for Perinatal Care and/or the Pediatric Quality Measures Program.

Qualification Requirements

Only U.S. citizens or citizens who have gained U.S. citizenship through naturalization may be considered. Applicants who are non-immigrant visa holders or immigrant green card holders (i.e., permanent residents) are ineligible for consideration. Successful applicants should possess an advanced degree (a master’s degree or higher level degree) with a concentration in health services research, health policy (e.g., public health, economics, sociology, biostatics, epidemiology, or political science), or a health-related or research field. In addition, applicants should possess and be able to demonstrate a fundamental understanding of research, statistics, and scientific terminology and an ability to communicate information orally and in writing.

Junior Fellows will be assigned a senior-level researcher, who will provide guidance and direction regarding the assigned research projects as well as the principles and protocols that guide the conduct of health services research. Additionally, the senior-level researcher will establish a curriculum for the Fellow to ensure a successful experience with the Agency. The curriculum will include, but is not limited to:

Identification of background materials relevant for research assignments to ensure the Fellow’s success
Attendance at Agency seminars and brown bag lectures and external experiences to clarify the Agency’s role in the field of health services research and the broader health care community
Information regarding the Agency’s programs, vision, and activities to fully understand AHRQ’s research endeavors and goals

*This Fellowship opportunity does not convey any Federal benefits due to the temporary nature of the appointment, and travel and relocation and housing expenses will not be paid.

Evaluation Method

Applicants who meet the qualification requirements described above will be further evaluated by determining the extent to which their work or related experience, education, training, etc., demonstrate that the applicant possesses the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties and responsibilities associated with the Fellowship assignment.

Application Procedures

Applicants should submit the following documentation:

Résumé articulating relevant experience, including amount of hours and the month and year the experience was gained; and
Unofficial transcripts documenting educational experience (official transcripts will be required if selected for this opportunity).
Proof of citizenship to include a copy of birth certificate, passport, or naturalization paperwork

Application materials must be sent to: 2019SummerInternship@ahrq.hhs.gov

Applications must contain all of the documentation cited above and be submitted by the closing date to be considered.

AHRQ provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and/or hiring process, please contact the Office on Civil Rights, Diversity and inclusion (OCRDI), at 301-443-5636. The decision on granting a reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

Additional information regarding the Agency and its activities may be obtained by visiting our web site at www.ahrq.gov.

AHRQ IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Page last reviewed March 2019
Page originally created March 2019

Internet Citation: 2019 Summer Intramural Fellowship Program. Content last reviewed March 2019. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/cpi/about/careers/2019-summer-fellowship.html