CHEAR Fellowship

Overview

Applications for the CHEAR Fellowship for the 2026-2027 academic year are now open.

The CHEAR Fellowship is a two-year fellowship that provides rigorous, interdisciplinary training in pediatric health services and outcomes research to clinical fellows and postdoctoral fellows. Competitive salary commensurate with NIH guidelines and benefits will be provided.

• Fellowship Application Form

• Frequently Asked Questions

• Flyer

Fellowship Training

The fellowship program aims to train fellows to conduct impactful pediatric health services research and child population health research via didactics, structured mentorship, experiential learning through conducting rigorous and ethical research, and professional socialization. Each fellow will develop an individualized learning plan in conjunction with mentors, tailored to the unique learning needs of each fellow. 

Didactics

• Weekly CHEAR seminar series, including internal and external speakers, methods used in pediatric health services research and child population health research, skill building workshops, and fellow-led works in progress sessions.
• PhD fellows will work with mentors to develop an individualized learning plan to learn new qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Clinicians will generally pursue a Master’s degree in Health and Health Care Research, Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis, or another degree-awarding program at the School of Public Health, Public Policy, or other relevant school. Funding for this degree will be provided by the fellowship.

Structured mentorship

• Each fellow will have a primary mentor in the CHEAR Center along with a mentorship committee of 2-3 other faculty members at the University of Michigan. Fellows meet regularly with mentors. 

Experiential learning through conducting rigorous and ethical research

• Fellows will be expected to conduct two research projects using methods from pediatric health services research and child population health research, independently and in conjunction with mentors.
• To conduct this research, fellows will have access to the rich data resources at the University of Michigan, as well as to the deep expertise in these data among CHEAR and UM faculty.
• Expected deliverables include abstracts and two first-authored, peer-reviewed articles by the end of fellowship.
• Fellows will obtain training in the responsible conduct of research as well as application of principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion across all research.

Professional Socialization

• Fellows will present several works-in-progress seminars to CHEAR faculty.
• Fellows will attend national conferences in which pediatric health services research and child population health research is commonly presented, such as Pediatric Academic Societies and Academy Health.
• Fellows will gain opportunities to network through inviting internal and external faculty to speak at CHEAR Seminars.

Candidate Eligibility

Physicians

The following types of physicians (MD/DO) are eligible to apply:

• Residents: Third-year residents in pediatrics or fourth-year residents in internal medicine/pediatrics, regardless of institution
• Fellows: First-year pediatric subspecialty fellows at the University of Michigan Medical School or incoming fellows who have matched at UM. Typically, the CHEAR fellowship is concurrent with the research years of fellowship.
• Faculty: Pediatric physicians who are current or incoming faculty members at the University of Michigan Medical School, regardless of whether they are on the instructional or clinical track

Interested physicians who do not meet the above criteria should contact Sarah L. Reeves, PhD, MPH, Director, CHEAR Fellowship Programs (chearfellowship@umich.edu), prior to applying.

Non-physician, non-PhD clinicians

Clinicians other than physicians, including but not limited to nurses, physician assistants, and mental health practitioners, are eligible to apply if they have specific interest in conducting pediatric health services research. These applicants should contact Sarah L. Reeves, PhD, MPH, Director, CHEAR Fellowship Programs (chearfellowship@umich.edu), prior to applying.

PhD graduates or candidates

The following individuals are eligible to apply:

• Those who currently hold or will complete by start of fellowship a doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) in public health, health policy, public policy, decision sciences, management science, economics, or related fields.
• PhD applicants to the UM pediatric psychology fellowship program who wish to combine their fellowship with the CHEAR fellowship.

Research Topics

CHEAR Fellows are expected to collaborate on established projects while also conducting independent research relating to pediatric health services research and/or policy evaluation with an emphasis on study inception, manuscript writing, and applying for grants. The Center's resources and collaborative support enable post-doctoral fellows to build their own research programs.

The following research topic areas represent high priority topics being pursued within the Center:

• Population health informatics applied to pediatric health services research.
• Application and development of new approaches for valuing child health (economic evaluation/cost- effectiveness analysis).
• Pediatric end-stage organ disease and solid organ transplant.
• Transition from pediatric to adult health care.
• Adherence to medical regimens.
• Immunization policy, financing, or delivery.
• Medicaid policy.
• Quality measurement and improvement.
• Acute care outcomes and survivorship.
• Barriers to care.
• Cost-effectiveness analysis and decision modeling.

Application process

Application materials include:

• Fellowship application form
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae – please clearly define your current status with respect to residency, fellowship, or PhD
• A brief statement describing your background, research interest, and reasons for applying to the fellowship (1,000 words or less)
• One writing sample (e.g., report, published or unpublished manuscript)

Currently, we are accepting applications from candidates to start the two-year fellowship in 2026. Start dates are flexible. Applications received by December 31, 2025 will be prioritized.

Please direct questions and application materials to chearfellowship@umich.edu.