Research leaves little doubt about the negative impact a lack of a place to call home has on people’s health. The toll on mental and emotional health is enormous, alongside the physical harms.

We’re going to dig into this complicated issue at our fall summit from Nov. 2-3 in Oakland, Calif. Setting aside the politics while being mindful of the myths surrounding homelessness, we’ll bring together experts, journalists and people with lived experience to talk about a range of subjects.

Building unity and establishing trust within communities is crucial to improving health care access and addressing inequities in rural America. That was a recurring theme at AHCJ’s 2023 Rural Health Workshop in Kansas City.

“Our aim is to more firmly connect violence to public health and help reframe the stories we tend to see in relation to gun violence, which receive a lot of attention in the breaking news phase and too rarely explore the upstream causes, long-lasting impact, or interventions,” said Katherine Reed, AHCJ’s interim executive director, and director of engagement and content.

Finding and parsing rural health data, tracking COVID-19’s curve in rural regions, the promise and limitations of telemedicine for rural health consumers, and reopening rural hospitals were among the topics tackled at AHCJ’s Rural Health Workshop 2022.

AHCJ’s Freelance Committee is starting up a monthly series of informal Zoom sessions intended to build skills and community. These Lunch and Learn get-togethers will take place at 1 p.m. ET every third Thursday. Each session will focus on a specific skills-building theme. No slides, just informal meetups where we can spend time together and learn from one another. Sessions will not be recorded or archived.

With the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as host, members will hear from researchers, practitioners and fellows journalists with expertise on aging and mental health; children’s access to services; cutting-edge research on brain health, and other subjects. Mark your calendars for Nov. 8-11.

Editors from some of the top magazines and newspapers are going virtual to meet you! Bring your best ideas to the AHCJ Virtual PitchFest.

This session has been created to give you an opportunity to pitch your ideas virtually one-on-one with editors from selected publications.

To participate, you will register for three time slots with the editors of your choosing and pay a flat fee of $45, nonrefundable. Appointment times will be available on Oct.15, noon ET.

At noon ET, Oct. 21, if we have Virtual PitchFest editor spots available, even if you have already selected three appointments, we will open the remaining spots until filled.

Learn more about the Virtual Freelance PitchFest and the editors who will be participating.

America’s 60 million rural residents face distinct pandemic COVID-19 challenges – and those are just the latest in longstanding health challenges for rural populations.

Health journalists will find story after story during the virtual Rural Health Journalism Workshop June 21-23. The easy-access workshop will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical needs, and how they differ, in rural areas.

You don't have to live in a rural area to write great stories about what's happening just beyond the city limits. Non-urban populations can play a larger-than-expected role in setting policy and legislation in many states and across the country. Leave with a better understanding of what’s happening – and will be happening – in rural regions to bring more perspective to your stories.

This special three-day, no-fee workshop will help you find and cover health stories in rural America. You just need to be an AHCJ member to attend. And after attending, you’ll have special access to recordings for the days and weeks following the workshop.

With more than 220,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States – and with others deemed “recovered” but left with lingering maladies – health journalists can feel dazed in deciding which stories to pursue. AHCJ is here to help. Join us in the virtual Journalism Summit on Infectious Disease Nov. 16-19. Its series of sessions will be moderated by leading health journalists and will feature world-class experts.

With discussions about data resources, treatments and vaccine development, health workers and vulnerable populations, COVID-19 and influenza sharing a season, and more, you’ll leave recharged with scores of story ideas and resources to get them done.

Registered participants will be able to view recordings of the panels on the same day they take place and will have exclusive access to the sessions for the days and weeks following the summit.

There will be a presentation honoring the winners of the 2019 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism.

People interested in participating in the Denver chapter will gather at the Denver Press Club. The social event will include some discussion about what people would like to see out of this chapter.

New York investigative medical journalist Katherine Eban will talk about the industry and her new book "Bottle of Lies." 

Please join the South Florida chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists, along with journalists from other South Florida news organizations (SPJ Florida, NAHJ SFL, ONA, NABJ-South Florida, and NPPA) for our annual holiday mixer.

POSTPONED because of weather. Check back for information about when this is rescheduled.

New York investigative medical journalist Katherine Eban will talk about the industry and her new book "Bottle of Lies."

Her work reveals how rampant fraud among generic drug manufacturers and lax FDA oversight put patients' health at risk. In the United States, 90% of spending for all pharmaceuticals goes for generic drugs because health insurers limit choice by steering patients to these medications, which are cheaper than brand-name drugs.

With 10,000 baby boomers reaching retirement age every day, are you tapping into this trend as a rich source of health stories?

Join us at USC for the latest efforts to address senior health issues, scores of story ideas and the resources to get them done.

Join us on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 5:30 p.m. for our fall happy hour, organized alongside the Alliance for Health Policy and the Society of Health Policy Young Professionals. This event will provide an opportunity to cultivate valuable sources for your reporting, and will allow you to mingle with other health journalists.

Please join the Atlanta chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists for a panel discussion on the use of AI in health care.

You are cordially invited to join health reporters (including members of the DC chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists) and senior communications staff from patient organizations and trade associations at our 6th Annual Health Communicators & Journalists Rooftop Reception in downtown D.C. 

Please register by June 5. Space is limited on the rooftop.

Free workshop in Denver to cover health issues of rural America

AHCJ’s 11th Rural Health Journalism Workshop will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical challenges of rural areas.

Leave with a better understanding of what’s happening – or will be happening – in rural regions, and return to work with dozens of story ideas you can pursue. You don't have to live in a rural area to write great stories about what's happening just beyond the city limits. And think about how much policy is set based on the non-urban population of your state.

This special one-day, no-fee workshop will help you find and cover health stories in rural America.

Please join the DC chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists for a journalists happy hour and discussion about investigative reporting with The Wall Street Journal’s Stephanie Armour. 

As many media companies continue to struggle financially, opportunities for professional development for journalists have in many cases dried up. The Association of Health Care Journalists, however, continues to offer top-notch training and development programs even in this challenging environment.

The Cleveland Chapter of AHCJ would like to invite you to an event to learn how you can take advantage of these learning opportunities, which include fellowships, webinars and training sessions.

Please join the D.C. chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists for an on-the-record briefing about artificial intelligence in health care. 

Come celebrate the season with health journalists and some representatives of the administration.

RSVPs will be required to get through security.

We look forward to seeing you!

The South Florida chapter of AHCJ will join other journalism organizations to celebrate the season with networking, trivia fun, light bites, and drink tickets for the first 25 attendees.

Come meet and mingle with leaders in Cleveland's journalism and communications community. AHCJ is joining forces with other journalism groups in Cleveland for a holiday party.

How where we live affects our health

Come get the tools to better investigate, understand and relate the health of your city.

Join AHCJ's New York City chapter on Oct. 2 for this panel discussion.

Members of the Association of Health Care Journalists and public affairs officials from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will attend an informal happy hour on the roof of CQ Roll Call.

Please join the Atlanta chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists for a panel discussion on responsible reporting on suicide, featuring a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent specializing in preventing child deaths and a behavioral Scientist in the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Free workshop focuses on covering rural America

AHCJ’s 10th Rural Health Journalism Workshop will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical challenges of rural areas.

Leave with a better understanding of what’s happening – or will be happening – in rural regions, and return to work with dozens of story ideas you can pursue.

This special one-day, no-fee workshop will help you find and cover health stories in rural America.

Our next AHCJ DC chapter networking event is our fifth annual rooftop happy hour with health care communicators, which is hosted at the National Pharmaceutical Council.

This is a social event that will allow you to meet other health reporters and people who work in health communications. 

AHCJ has teamed up with the National Library of Medicine to present the AHCJ-NLM Fellowships. AHCJ will select four journalists to spend a week on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Enhance your medical and scientific reporting through this specialized fellowship.

The application deadline is March 21.

Independent journalists Meryl Davids Landau and Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup have launched a new South Florida chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists. Our aim is to create social events and programming for health care journalists in the area (whether you report on health policy, wellness, specific medical conditions, alternative medicine…).

For our first event of the year we are partnering with the National Press Foundation for a daylong workshop on covering the opioid crisis.

Experts will discuss the latest research and projections on the use of opioids, other drugs and alcohol; evidence on federal, state and local models that work; insight on systemic changes in prevention and treatment; and information on the impact and stigma on children and families.

Please join us at the National Press Club for our annual holiday party to toast a great year of health care journalism! 

The Boston chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists is back in business, and we’re inviting you to a panel discussion and reception with key members of the team that separated 22-month-old conjoined twins at Massachusetts General Hospital, knowing one would almost certainly die. The case raised a host of surgical and ethical challenges that Dr. Allan M. Goldstein, surgeon-in-chief at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Dr. Brian M. Cummings, chair of the hospital’s Pediatric Ethics Committee, and Dr. Oscar J. Benavidez, chief of pediatric/congenital cardiology, will discuss.

Topic: Right-to-try drug legislation that Congress will consider this fall

Speaker: Alison Bateman-House, a medical ethicist at the Langone Medical Center, New York University

The Association of Health Care Journalists has agreed to collaborate on the curriculum for the 10^th World Conference of Science Journalists slated for fall 2017 in San Francisco.

Independent Journalists Meryl Davids Landau and Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup have launched a new South Florida chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ). Our aim is to create social events and programming for health care journalists in the area (whether you report on health policy, wellness, specific medical conditions, alternative medicine…).

Please join the Atlanta chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists for a panel discussion on innovative approaches to antibiotic resistance.

Featured speakers include Michael Bell, M.D., deputy director of Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Maryn McKenna, journalist, Senior Fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University; Cassandra Quave, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Dermatology, Emory School of Medicine and the Center for the Study of Human Health, Emory College of Arts and Sciences; and Joshua Weitz, Ph.D., Professor, School of Biological Sciences; Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences.

The first meeting of AHCJ's new South Florida Chapter will feature Angela Brice-Smith, deputy consortium administrator for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' southern region, who will provide the latest updates on chronic care management, the CMS' quality payment program, and opioid abuse, a public health problem that has and continues to affect people in South Florida.

Experts from the Altarum Institute will discuss public health issues involving the opioid crisis, aging policies and children's health. 

Register now to join us at an Association of Health Care Journalists rooftop happy hour Thursday, June 15, in downtown D.C. Registration deadline is June 5.

AHCJ’s Rural Health Journalism Workshop will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical challenges of rural areas.

Hear from the director of County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, an annual measure of vital health factors revealing a snapshot of how health is influenced by where we live, learn, work and play.

This is a FREE workshop but you do need to register ahead of time.

The Trump administration has promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But what might a replacement look like? What impact could potential features of a new policy have?

This New York City chapter event promises to be a lively discussion.

You're invited to the Association of Health Care Journalists' DC Chapter Holiday party and networking gathering! 

All journalists interested in health care reporting are welcome, and we'll be inviting some special guests who have helped many of us over the course of the year. 

Health IT holds promises to give individuals more control over their own health, help physicians make more informed care decisions and improve the overall health of populations. And it holds promises for local stories - covering business, policy, public health, research and more.

AHCJ’s Journalism Workshop on Health Information Technology will give journalists a look at the roles of government, the tech industry, health care providers and – last but not least – consumers.

This event will include two panels: One will examine future steps for health care reform, including election topics, and the other will explore final goals as the Obama administration comes to a close.  

The first panel will include Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, who worked on President Barack Obama’s health care reform team, and William Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, who served as senior budget adviser to Senate Republicans for 25 years.

The second panel will feature Andy Slavitt, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The Association of Health Care Journalists' Washington D.C. Chapter invites you to a Matchbox Happy Hour for a discussion on covering health technology and wearables.

This AHCJ New York chapter event will be a panel discussion with:

• Leah Binder, President and CEO of the Leapfrog Group

• Dr. Robert Panzer, Chief Medical Officer for the University of Rochester Medical Center and a member of the quality steering committee for the Healthcare Association of New York

• Jonathan LaMantia, health care reporter for Crain's

• Moderator:  Charles Ornstein, ProPublica

We’ll be joined by senior communications staff from groups like the National Pharmaceutical Council, the National Health Council, AdvaMed and the National Community Pharmacists Association. This is an informal gathering that will give us a chance to meet and mingle.

Join the Chicago chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists for a panel discussion featuring the vice president and chief pharmacy officer for the Resource Group at Ascension and a researcher who examines the effects of government policies and social phenomena with a focus on the health sector.

In some ways, nuclear power has never looked better — or worse. In an age of climate change and growing energy demands, the world needs low-carbon fuel sources, and nuclear delivers electricity without the greenhouse gas emissions of fossil fuels. Can nuclear power be considered a form of "green" energy? In the wake of Fukushima, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl, can it be reliable and safe?

Journalists who cover energy, business, health, and the environment are invited to this workshop covering the risks and benefits of nuclear energy for health care, research, and power generation.

Congress is poised to pass the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016 that many experts believe will weaken FDA regulation of medical devices with far-reaching consequences to the public.

If you cover the FDA, the drug and device industry or are interested in the path of this legislation and those interested as patients who might need such devices will find this program helpful.

We compete, we break news, we make a difference. Now it’s time for the Association of Health Care Journalists’ D.C. Chapter Holiday networking gathering!

Come toast the holiday season with craft beers, vintage wine — and some light and healthy(ier) food.

There is no formal program – just a gathering as we look forward to 2016. We’ve invited some special guests who have helped many of us during the year. All health journalists are invited.

Learn how to use evidence-based skills to evaluate and report on medical research sent out in press releases, published or presented at conferences.

Panels will cover the connections and disconnections of science and policy, clinical studies, research tools for evidence-based stories, reporting on scientific fraud, understanding and reporting on screening evidence, digging into statistics and how to use anecdotes and narratives while sticking to evidence.

How’s Obamacare Medicaid expansion working out for enrollees, providers and states? Where the best data to examine Medicaid managed care organizations? How are states trying to control rising Medicaid costs? Where is Medicaid failing children? How is Medicaid keeping people out of nursing homes?

These are just some of the topics our guests will address at this Washington, D.C., chapter event.

Join the Chicago chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists on Oct. 13 for a panel discussion of the recently released Institute of Medicine report “Improving Diagnosis in Health Care.” The committee writing the report concluded that "most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences."

The Association of Health Care Journalists’ Washington, D.C., Chapter invites you to “Brews and Views” — a gathering to learn how the Affordable Care Act can help small employers gain health coverage for their workers.

In West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, more than 12,000 people were infected and 6,476 died. Almost 3,000 people were quarantined and more than 10 died in the recent MERS outbreak in Asia. What happens next time?

A vaccine against Ebola has been successfully tested in Africa. Will it be effective or will the virus mutate and become an even bigger threat?

AHCJ’s eighth Rural Health Journalism Workshop will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical challenges of rural areas.

Take part in a discussion about choosing wording that’s sensitive and straightforward when reporting on the LGBT community, people with disabilities and people with mental health conditions.

Vaccine refusers represent only a small percentage of people who may not get vaccines for themselves or their children. Many people who don't get vaccines are simply hesitant to do so. This panel discussion will cover vaccine hesitancy and outreach.

With the King v. Burwell Supreme Court decision expected in June, how would states and stakeholders handle the loss of health insurance subsidies if the plaintiffs prevail?

Join the AHCJ Philadelphia chapter and heart experts from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to learn more about how far that field has come – and where it’s going.

The Association of Health Care Journalists and the Poynter Institute invite journalists from all media, local and national to apply for a two day in-depth workshop “Covering Ebola and the Next Killer Contagion.”

Please join the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform for a special event on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

You're invited to the Association of Health Care Journalists’ D.C. chapter's holiday networking gathering!

Join the Atlanta chapter of the Association of Health Care Journalists for a special event focusing on the Affordable Care Act’s second open enrollment.

A third of children are overweight or obese. Now one out of five new cases of childhood diabetes is type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult onset diabetes. But diabetes doesn’t affect kids and adults the same way. You will hear insights of what are the special issues faced by kids with diabetes and obesity and learn about what community outreach and prevention studies can work.

The Association of Health Care Journalists’ Washington, D.C., chapter and the Alliance for Health Reform will host a discussion on getting ready for Round Two of marketplace enrollment and covering the big issues.

AHCJ’s seventh Rural Health Journalism Workshop will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical challenges of rural areas. This special one-day, no-fee workshop will help you find and cover health stories in rural America.

Journalists are invited to tap into health data in a special workshop coming this fall. This AHCJ workshop offers something for data newcomers and  veterans – from spreadsheet basics to visualizing data online. You’ll come away with skills and ideas on teasing stories out of datasets and tools on presenting these stories.

The first day will feature hands-on classes focused on spreadsheet basics for the novices. The second day will feature more advanced training.

AHCJ’s sixth Rural Health Journalism Workshop will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical challenges of rural areas.

Leave with a better understanding of what’s happening – or will be happening – in rural regions, and return to work with dozens of story ideas you can pursue.

This special one-day, no-fee workshop will help you find and cover health stories in rural America.

In the wake of the "death panels" controversy that demonized efforts to compensate physicians for conversations with patients, there is a growing movement to improve end of life care. Billions of dollars are spent annually on Medicare patients for care delivered in the final months of their lives, much of it unnecessary, painful, duplicative and unwanted.

Studies have shown that earlier use of palliative and hospice care and advance care planning can not only improve the quality of life and care, but also lengthen lifespan, improve patient satisfaction and cut costs. This panel will discuss how hospitals, physicians and advocates are working with patients to improve end of life care.

The AHCJ Reporting Fellowships on Health Care Performance is a yearlong program allowing journalists to pursue a significant reporting project related to the U.S. health care system. It can be local or national in scope, or a little of both.

Guidance is provided by AHCJ fellowship leaders through customized seminars on health care systems, conference calls and email consultations. The fellowship covers the cost of attending the seminars and AHCJ conferences, and a project allowance is available to defray the cost of field reporting, health data analysis and other project-related research. In addition, each fellow will receive a $2,500 fellowship award upon the successful completion of the project.

Experts and journalists have gathered to understand and better report stories on the health status of – and health care provided to – U.S. immigrants, both legal and undocumented.

Sessions include finding the stories you can pursue on the immigrant health paradox, how the health reform battle has impacted immigrants, workplace health and safety, the mental health needs of immigrants, special challenges in covering immigrant communities and more.

Optional hands-on sessions on Thursday will bring to life the connections of data covering immigrants and health via online and desktop data tools.

Join us in America’s heartland on June 1 to learn how to better report the health stories abounding in rural areas. This special one-day, no-fee workshop in Omaha, Neb., will help you find and cover those stories in your area. Just join AHCJ – or make sure your membership is up to date – to attend.

This AHCJ Philadelphia chapter event will be an update on advances in pediatric oncology research and treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The event will consist of laboratory tours followed by an informal discussion with featured researchers.

The event is free, includes light refreshments and is open to health care journalists from the Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C., chapters, as well as from other regions who are interested in attending.

Learn how to cover this tremendous economic engine beyond the routine stories, with tools to find essential information your audiences need.

The Association of Health Care Journalists has teamed up with the National Library of Medicine to present the AHCJ-NLM Fellowships. AHCJ will select four journalists to spend a week on the campus of the National Institutes of Health.

A conference organized by Coventry University in cooperation with AHCJ. 

This conference aims to address some of the key issues in health journalism, as well as the state of training of health journalists, and pressures in modern newsrooms. A program committee is working to nail down sessions and panelists right now and has invited abstract proposals from journalists, educators and researchers. Watch this site for a schedule of events.

Even if your newsroom is in a bustling city, there are untold rural health stories down the road. So join us in St. Louis for this special one-day, no-fee workshop to help you find and cover health stories in rural America. Just join AHCJ – or make sure your membership is up to date – to attend.

Following up on a hugely popular social media event held several years ago, this event will teach journalists how to practically use social media platforms to improve health reporting skills. It will not only revisit the basics of Facebook, Twitter and blogging but also cover some new platforms and tools.

Kansas health is making news. Health reform battles are moving to the state level. Tight tax dollars are straining local health programs. And the list goes on.

Journalists across Kansas have the chance to access government officials and health experts with a focus on health stories that impact the state's residents and media audiences. The news-breaking event will provide journalists with the tools needed to improve the depth and amount of coverage focused on critical state and local health issues. The seminar will provide journalists insight into state government's role in health policy. Attendees will leave the event with stories for their newsrooms right away, plus solid ideas for future health-related stories.

Journalists across Missouri have the chance to access government officials and health experts with a focus on health stories that impact the state's residents and media audiences.

The news-breaking event will provide the tools needed to improve the depth and amount of coverage focused on critical state and local health issues.

The seminar will provide journalists from Missouri insight into state government's role in health policy. Attendees will leave the event with stories for their newsrooms right away, plus solid ideas for future health-related stories.

Seminar 2

This 10-month program allows mid-career journalists to pursue a significant reporting project examining health care systems. Guidance is provided through customized seminars on health performance, conference calls and e-mail consultations with AHCJ fellowship leaders.

Eleven AHCJ-CDC Health Journalism Fellows will spend a week studying public health issues at two CDC campuses. They will attend attend sessions on epidemiology, global disease prevention efforts, pandemic flu preparedness, climate change, vaccine safety, obesity, autism and more. The visit includes a tour of the CDC director's National Emergency Operations Center, the chance to meet new sources on policy and research and information about how to tap the agency's resources to produce better stories.

Learn  techniques and tools for getting the inside story on pharmaceuticals, medical devices, hospitals, and for keeping up with regulatory and legal activity from award-winning, veteran investigative reporters Duff Wilson, of The New York Times, and Charles Ornstein, AHCJ's president and a senior reporter at ProPublica.

Interested in forming a Cleveland chapter?

Join us for a free workshop for journalists on researching medical stories.

You'll get expert instruction on using the National Library of Medicine's latest research tools. Join us as NLM senior staffer Rob Logan, former science reporter, editor and journalism professor, provides hands-on, interactive training.

The workshop also is a chance to gauge interest in a regional chapter of AHCJ, which could lead to more training, networking and socializing opportunities.

Seminar 1

This 10-month program allows mid-career journalists to pursue a significant reporting project examining health care systems. Guidance is provided through customized seminars on health performance, conference calls and e-mail consultations with AHCJ fellowship leaders.

The Association of Health Care Journalists has teamed up with the National Library of Medicine to present the second AHCJ-NLM Fellowships. AHCJ will select four journalists to spend a week on the campus of the National Institutes of Health.

AHCJ has sponsored 14 journalists to take part in a two-day workshop at the CDC about covering influenza. The workshop includes a series of on-the-record sessions with CDC experts to prepare front-line journalists for the upcoming flu season. Public health experts are providing a primer on the flu, examine how it is being tracked, expectations for vaccines and antivirals, and what communities can do to deal with the fallout.

The notion of the "doctor is in" is undergoing rapid changes, thanks to technology that can skip the doctors' office entirely for some appointments. As health journalists, we can answer questions such as: What are the benefits of "telemedicine" for doctors and patients? What are the downsides? How does telemedicine work and how widespread is it likely to become in the months and years ahead? Will it curb runaway health care costs? We'll explore these questions and more.

AHCJ has announced a fellowship program to help journalists understand and report on the performance of local health care systems and the U.S. health system as a whole. The AHCJ Media Fellowships on Health Performance, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, provides for training as well as field reporting assistance.

The program for mid-career journalists is intended to give print, broadcast and online reporters an opportunity to learn about examples of high-performing health care systems, to focus on innovations in care delivery, and to explore a system or its significant parts to determine what makes that system effective or ineffective. Fellows will be able to examine providers of care, insurers, regulators and policymakers. 

Join AHCJ's San Francisco Bay Area chapter for an insider's look at one of the best resources for health information in the Bay Area: the California HealthCare Foundation. Now that we have a national health care reform bill, what does that mean for California? Join us for perspectives from a leading authority on health care in the state. We'll learn about resources for reporters and specifics about how the new reform bill will affect various sectors of health care in California in the months and years ahead.

A briefing with some top Washington-based journalists sponsored by the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

After an intense year of covering health reform, the subject now seems more complicated than ever. Implementation timelines go on for page after page. Many questions seem to have no answers, at least not yet.  Seems like a good time to take a breath and plot out how to cover health reform for the rest of this year, and the time leading up to 2014.

A day devoted to journalists across Missouri will give reporters access to state officials and health experts with a focus on improving health reporting. The news-breaking event will provide journalists with the tools needed to improve the depth and amount of coverage focused on critical state and local health issues. The seminars will provide journalists from Missouri insight into state government's role in health policy. The journalists will leave the event with stories for their newsrooms right away, plus solid ideas for future health-related stories. Attendees will hear the latest on a variety of topics, especially important during a time when health – from reform to H1N1 – makes news every day.

A day devoted to journalists across Kansas will give access to state officials and health experts with a focus on improving health reporting. The news-breaking event will provide journalists with the tools needed to improve the depth and amount of coverage focused on critical state and local health issues. The seminars will provide journalists from Kansas insight into state government's role in health policy. The journalists will leave the event with stories for their newsrooms right away, plus solid ideas for future health-related stories. Attendees will hear the latest on a variety of topics, especially important during a time when health – from reform to H1N1 – makes news every day.

The Association of Health Care Journalists has teamed up with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for this national fellowship program for journalists. Ten fellows are chosen to spend a week studying a variety of public health issues at two CDC campuses. The fellowships include membership, travel, lodging and meals.

Over the next 20 years, the 65-plus population is projected to grow four to six times as fast as the population as a whole. Learn what the hot-button issues in our aging society will be and what you need to be reporting on now.

What's ahead in research on chronic conditions, Alzheimer's and genetics? What's evolving in technology? What will be expected of caregivers? What kind of medical coverage will these seniors need? How do changing ethnic populations impact aging issues?

Come explore these issues and more so you can start telling these stories now.

This panel, presented at the California Chicano News Media Association's Journalism Opportunities Conference, will help reporters who don't normally cover health learn how to cover the health angles on their beats.

The Association of Health Care Journalists has teamed up with the National Library of Medicine to present the first AHCJ-NLM Fellowships. AHCJ will select four journalists to spend a week on the campus of the National Institutes of Health.

AHCJ sponsored 12 journalists to take part in a two-day workshop at the CDC about covering seasonal influenza and the A-H1N1 flu virus, now grabbing the headlines. The workshop includes a series of on-the-record sessions with CDC experts to prepare front-line journalists for the upcoming flu season.

The 2008-09 Midwest Health Journalism Program Fellows will attend a seminar on covering rural health issues and will officially graduate from the program.

AHCJ member Gary Schwitzer will address the challenges of writing accurate, balanced and complete stories on deadline despite biased sources and commercial pressures in the medical industry. Schwitzer will use real stories as examples to show how it doesn't take an extra thousand words of type or 10 minutes of air to write a solid medical story.

The 11 journalists in the the first class of AHCJ-CDC Health Journalism Fellows will spend a week studying public health issues at two Atlanta campuses of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The fellowship program, supported by the CDC Foundation, will include presentations, roundtable discussions and lab tours on epidemiology, global disease prevention efforts, obesity, vaccine safety, pandemic flu preparedness, autism and many other topics.

The 2008-09 Midwest Health Journalism Program fellows will visit the CDC to learn more about how that agency works, what resources it has available and how to best use those resources. The fellows also visit the Carter Center. This competitive fellowship program picks 10 journalists from Kansas and Missouri each year for special training sessions, mentoring and access to AHCJ conferences, workshops and resources.

AHCJ is a sponsor of the 6th Annual Missouri Health Policy Summit, hosted by the Center for Health Policy at the University of Missouri.

Sessions will explore the health issues of children, seniors and immigrants in urban settings, as well as topics such as obesity, mental health, disaster preparedness and the mapping of local health data. Come get the tools to better investigate, understand and relate the health of your city.

This intensive boot camp for the 2008-09 Midwest Health Journalism Program brings the fellows together with top health care journalists for in-depth sessions on how to report on specific health care issues. This competitive fellowship program picks 10 journalists from Kansas and Missouri each year for special training sessions, mentoring and access to AHCJ conferences, workshops and resources.

This kick-off workshop brings the class of fellows together with experts to learn more about politics and policy, stakeholders in the health care debate and ideas for generating stories. This competitive fellowship program picks 10 journalists from Kansas and Missouri each year for special training sessions, mentoring and access to AHCJ conferences, workshops and resources. 

AHCJ's Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism will present the workshop, which will focus on special health concerns of America's rural populations and how reporters can better cover them.

This conference is designed to help journalists navigate the complex scientific, medical and political issues involved with global health, to assess what's working and what's not, and make these stories meaningful to local audiences.

The 2007-08 fellows will pay a visit to the Centers for Disease Control. They will take part in two days of educational sessions, briefings and tours with CDC personnel.

The New York chapter heard from five speakers about conflicts of interest in health care. The event, at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, examined how to recognize potential conflicts, including marketing vs. education, the pharmaceutical industry's gift giving to doctors and how it might affect prescribing habits and similar issues.

AHCJ - and its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism - held its first Urban Health Journalism Workshop. Sessions explored the health issues of children, seniors and immigrants in urban settings, as well as obesity, mental health, disaster preparedness and the mapping of local health data.

Three dozen journalists gathered at the San Francisco Chronicle for a workshop on multicultural health issues in the Bay Area.

Covering disparities in health and health care is not the same as reporting the latest drug trial or diet advice. Culture, history, money and biology intertwine to influence health and health care. This workshop builds on AHCJ's recently published multicultural health resource guide, which was supported by The California Endowment, to help you sharpen your skills, learn practical tips, and avoid lurking traps in this important, yet underreported area. Experienced journalists share their hard-earned lessons. Health experts flag common errors and misconceptions, while also providing an overview of what researchers really know.

Training event for the 2007-08 Midwest Health Journalism Program fellows.

Kickoff training event for the 2007-08 Midwest Health Journalism Program fellows.

Bay Area health care writers, editors, reporters and authors gathered at the 13 Views bar at the top of the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero for a Health Journalism Schmooze.