Lewis B. Lefkowitz Fund

Now accepting student applications through January 10, 2025!

Background

Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Office of Health Equity, in partnership with the Institute for Medicine and Public Health, is seeking community organizations to collaborate with on projects for Vanderbilt medical or public health students to gain applied experience and exposure to community health and health equity.  The community organizations selected to host students will receive funds to support projects that create equitable opportunities for all populations to achieve their best health possible. The Lefkowitz Fund supporting student engagement in community health is named in honor of Dr. Lewis Lefkowitz and aims to continue his commitment to extending public health and medical education beyond the classroom and into the community. Click here to learn more about Dr. Lefkowitz.

Community Partner Background

Eligible community organizations include advocacy groups, coalitions, neighborhood associations, community health centers, and other service providers with a 501(c)(3) non-profit status or a fiscal agent. Organizations should meet the following criteria:

• Has a 501(c)(3) non-profit status or fiscal agent

• Can define a clear, feasible project deliverable for students to work on that addresses health equity

• Has capacity to supervise a small cohort of 3-5 students between January-May 2025

• Able to join a series of four in-person meetings between January-May 2025 to create and refine the project deliverable

• Has an office based in Davidson County to host meetings or can attend meetings on Vanderbilt campus (Projects can still either be local to a community in Tennessee or focus statewide)

*Priority will be given to organizations that are engaged in policy, advocacy, or upstream systems level change work that advances health equity. Please refer to this Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change resource for more information.

Student Background

Students involved in the Lefkowitz Fund will be enrolled in a MD, MPH, or MD + Additional Degree program at Vanderbilt University. Students must submit an application indicating their interest, availability, program of study, topic area interests, and if they would like for this experience to count towards curricular requirements. Projects will be done in cohorts, as multiple students will be matched to work with the community organizations. Our goal is to accommodate as many students as possible, but student schedules, community organization availability, and other logistical factors may affect this. Additionally, please note that this is not a paid experience for students. The student application can be found here.

*Please note: Community organization selections will be finalized in early January 2025 and we will gather organization preference from selected students at that time.

Project Overview

The 2025 Lefkowitz Fund experience will include a series of four meetings. The visual below provides an overview of the phases of the experience. Projects may include the development of data one-pagers or fact sheets, advocacy toolkits, organizational PowerPoint presentations, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, op-eds, etc.

*Workflow and additional communication outside of these four meetings can be determined between students and community organizations.

Final Presentation Requirements

Students and community organizations will be asked to attend the final presentation/celebration to present their projects in lieu of a final written report. Community organizations will sign off on all deliverables before submitting to the Office of Health Equity. Students are encouraged to include any photos, fliers, or other information that describe the success of the project. Students and organizations will also be asked to complete a short feedback survey.

Timeline

The length of projects may vary and can be discussed between the community organization and student, but the general timeframe will be from end of January to May 2025. Key dates to consider below (subject to change):

Questions?

The Lefkowitz Fund has recently been re-designed and this pilot is an opportunity for students, staff, faculty, and community partners to co-learn in a way that advances Dr. Lefkowitz’s vision of engaging students in community health and health equity. As such, we want to hear from you on how this process can be made most beneficial for both students and the community organizations. If you have any questions or comments, please email sarah.r.ray@vumc.org.