Produce experts in health services research and implementation science who are skilled in change management, team building, communications, consensus-building, systems thinking, and engagement.

Health services research has long been a top VHA priority, both in service of improved clinical care and in support of VHA’s statutorily-derived research mission. The recent focus on implementing Learning Health System competencies to accelerate the rate of research finding adoption into clinical routines highlights the need to produce experts in embedded research and system change.

Train physician and nurse fellows to become change agents for health and healthcare through research, policy development, and advocacy.

Built on a foundation of collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the NCSP is a partnership with VHA, seven medical schools, and community organizations. Fellows are immersed in health services research, clinical service, and advocacy with the goal of producing leaders with broad vision for improving population health and health care delivery.

Develop leaders and scholars to improve healthcare.

VHA and the broader healthcare industry continue intensive focus on healthcare quality and cost-efficiency. This fellowship has a long track record of filling leadership positions in VHA and other federal agencies with experts in learning healthcare systems, improvement, cost-efficiency, and implementation sciences.

Develop highly skilled data scientists and engineers within the VA healthcare ecosystem to produce experts capable of fostering exponential gains in precision medicine, healthcare research, and cost-efficiency.

Quantitative science is being used in healthcare at a historic rate with great benefit to care delivery and efficiency. The data scientist workforce deficit is the greatest limiting factor. BD-STEP addresses this by enticing fellows toward a VA career through introduction to the meaningful VA mission and the stimulation of working with data from the largest health care system in the country.

Develop experts in advancing healthcare education through practice, research, and improvement.

Developing and improving educational programs requires expertise in evaluation and research and the interaction between educational programs and their host healthcare systems. Given the size of the VA healthcare system and the importance of its education mission, HPEER develops needed expertise for ongoing educational program development and evaluation.

Develop experts in healthcare informatics use, dissemination, education, and research. 

As health care data grows exponentially, the VHA and other large health care systems need expertise in effective use for clinical, operational, and research benefits.  Graduates of this program serve to fill the developmental need for this workforce

Provide advanced interprofessional training in the science of patient safety improvement.

Skills and knowledge in patient safety science are increasingly critical for healthcare systems that seek to reduce adverse events and become High Reliability Organizations (HRO). This fellowship, a collaboration between OAA and the National Center for Patient Safety, builds a critical workforce of experts in patient safety strategy, policy development, and research.

Develop the next generation of interprofessional VA leaders with expertise in Substance Use Disorder (SUD) research, evaluation, innovation, and clinical care.

The VA is committed to excellence in SUD care, education, training and research to meet the needs of Veterans. To successfully provide high-quality SUD care, VA needs both a well-trained interdisciplinary clinical addiction workforce and a cadre of professionals to drive the innovation, evaluation and research needed to support state-of-the-art clinical care.

Develop leaders with vision, knowledge, and commitment to lead mental health treatment, research, and education.

Need for mental health treatment has exploded in response to the prevalence of traumatic experiences, broad destigmatization, and improvements in treatment access and outcomes. In addition to clinical skills, expertise is needed in research and evidence-based policy development to continue advancement in the field.

Develop leaders in Mental Health care provision and program administration focusing on rehabilitation, functional capacity, and recovery.

VHA Mental Health positions remain on the list of critical staffing shortages. This fellowship’s unique contributions to this workforce include specialized Severe Mental Illness curriculum, interprofessional teamwork, as well as dissemination and leadership skills.

Prepare leaders in geriatric research, education, and clinical innovation.

Healthcare continues to suffer from a chronic shortage of trained geriatricians. The Advanced Geriatrics Advanced Fellowship trains leaders who can provide care, teach, investigate, and develop evidence-based policy to address this demographically cascading shortage.

Create experts in advanced gynecological procedures to serve women Veterans.

Minimally invasive gynecological procedures provide improved healthcare for women Veterans but there is an insufficient number of appropriately trained specialists to meet VA’s needs. This fellowship will develop leaders and specialists in MIGS to address this need in VHA.

Develop leaders with clinical expertise and/or research specialization in complex post-deployment trauma.

Due to advances in military field medicine, service members are surviving injuries at higher rates, but often with lingering complex symptoms and diminished functioning.  The clinical and research tracks in this fellowship are intended to develop experts who can advance capacity to care for and restore functioning to America’s Veterans who have experienced complex military injuries.

Develop leaders with vision, knowledge, and commitment to lead war-related illness clinical care, research, and education.

War-Related Illness and Injury Study Centers (WRIISCs) were established in 2001 to advance knowledge and treatment for often poorly understood chronic conditions suffered by combat Veterans. These sites house the fellowship to promote the development of leaders in WRII policy and research.

Develop leaders in research, education, and clinical care in health issue pertaining to women Veterans.

Traditional healthcare systems focused primarily on care for male Veterans, the VHA recognized a gap in clinical expertise and research for the unique needs of women Veterans. This fellowship seeks to fill this gap through specialized training in women’s healthcare delivery, research, and policy development.

Foster scholarship and policy leadership in the neurodegenerative disorders of aging.

Graduates provide VHA with needed research and policy expertise to address the rapidly growing demand for specialized services in this area.

Develop physician leaders with the vision, knowledge, and commitment to healthcare, research, and education related to multiple sclerosis (MS).

VHA designated MS Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in 2002 in response to increasing demand for clinical services and research advancements in this area. The CoE based fellowship produces experts positioned to lead MS policy and research.

Develop physicians that can provide clinical, research, and policy leadership in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.

In response to growing demand for treatment for Parkinson’s, VHA established six Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (PADRECCs). These sites house the fellowship to promote the development of leaders in Parkinson’s policy and research.

Develop physician researchers and leaders in relevant areas of psychiatry and neuroscience.

Psychiatric disorders, disorders of the brain, traumatic injuries of the head/spine, and other related conditions are in need of research advancement and policy leadership. This fellowship develops the skill set for this need.

Develop physicians positioned to provide clinical, research, and policy leadership in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) medicine.

VHA has the largest system of SCI care in the world and there is continual need for experts to advance science and implement evidence-based policy in SCI.