The Association of Health Care Journalists has awarded the 2024 International Health Study Fellowships to four journalists who want to pursue a story or project comparing a facet of the U.S. health care system to that of a European country.
The program, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, is designed for mid-career journalists and is returning for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. Fellows will interview patients, health care providers and policymakers in the U.S. and abroad.
2024 fellows and their projects:
- Ariel Cohen, CQ Roll Call: What candidates running in the 2024 election pushing for stricter abortion laws can learn from France’s 14-week abortion ban, and how public perception of abortion limits differ between the U.S. and France.
- Avery Martinez, KVIA/ABC-7 El Paso: Exploring mental health stigma — how culture, language, tradition and medicine interact — from Spain to the U.S.-Mexico border.
- Eleanor Klibanoff, Texas Tribune: What Texas can learn from Italy’s big investment in a small-scale solution to its rural primary care problem.
- Usha Lee McFarling, STAT: Examining why Portugal outperforms the U.S. on key health metrics despite spending less — and despite, with its deep legacy of colonialism, its own significant issues with racial health disparities and structural racism within health care.
International Health Study Fellows will continue in their current jobs during the fellowship period and receive customized seminars, mentoring and financial support for field reporting. Projects are expected to be completed by mid-2024.
Learn more about the International Health Study Fellowship.
Learn more about AHCJ’s other health journalism fellowships.
The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. With about 1,500 members across the U.S. and around the globe, its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. The association and its sister organization, the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism provide training, resources and support for journalists, including health journalism fellowships, webinars, networking and conferences.
The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable. The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. The Fund is based in New York City.
