Application Information for Community-based Practice Sites
Kraft Fellowship Program and/or Kraft Practitioner Program
Program Year: July 2017 – June 2019
Deadline: December 15, 2016
Background
The Kraft Family National Center for Leadership and Training in Community Health is seeking
community health centers (CHCs) serving a diverse, primarily low-income patient population, to
serve as clinical practice sites for its two-year Kraft Fellowship Program and/or its two-year
Kraft Practitioner Program. Selected CHCs will have the opportunity to participate in one or
both of these innovative programs, the goal of which is to prepare clinician-leaders who can help
build the field of community health and ensure the delivery of high quality care in CHCs. The
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, an important partner in the development of
the Kraft Center, and community health center leaders themselves have participated in
developing the selection criteria for CHCs. These criteria have been designed to ensure the
highest quality community-based learning experience for participants in Kraft Center programs.
More details about the Kraft Fellowship Program and the Kraft Practitioner Program, and the
expectations for the community-based practice sites associated with each, follow:
Kraft Fellowship Program
The Kraft Fellowship Program offers mission-driven physicians the opportunity to practice in
underserved communities while at the same time developing leadership and/or research skills,
increasing their understanding of the social determinants of health through academic study, and
positioning themselves for careers as academic-community providers.
Community health centers are a key component of the Kraft Fellowship Program, providing
Fellows with hands-on clinical experience in a community setting, as well as mentorship from
seasoned clinicians well-versed in the specific needs of underserved groups.
Specifics as to the role of CHCs in the Kraft Fellowship Program include the following:

Provide Kraft Fellows with appropriate clinical practice time – typically, three sessions
per week that may include both continuity clinics and urgent care. [Practice sessions must
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accommodate Fellows’ coursework at the Harvard School of Public Health and other
learning experiences offered by the Kraft Fellowship Program].

Designate a primary clinician-mentor for Kraft Fellows. The clinician-mentor will: orient
the Fellow to the community-health center and its community; provide opportunities for
the Fellow to observe and discuss how patient care visits incorporate social determinants
of health and include appropriate referrals to community resources; and serve as an
ongoing learning resource and sponsor for the Fellow within the site.

Contribute to and provide guidance for the Kraft Fellow’s “scholarly project,” which will
reflect the interests of the CHC and may include: participation in a community-based
participatory research project; design and implementation of a quality improvement
initiative; or a policy and/or program development project related to an identified need in
the community served by the health center. The priorities of the CHC will inform the
project’s development. Insights and support will also be provided by the Fellow’s
clinician-mentor, by Kraft Center faculty, and by Harvard School of Public Health faculty
with an interest in the project’s content and/or methodology.

Provide opportunities for Kraft Fellows to: participate in multidisciplinary clinical and
administrative teams; have access to both the CHC’s Executive Director and Medical
Director; engage in appropriate leadership development activities; and participate in
CHC-sponsored community initiatives, all with a view to enhancing Fellows’ learning
about community-based care and community health.
Kraft Fellows will begin their clinical practice at community-based practice sites in early
September 2017. Fellows’ salary and benefits will be supported by the Kraft Center; patient care
revenues generated by Fellows will accrue to their host community health center. Kraft Fellows
come from a variety of disciples, including internal medicine/primary care family medicine,
pediatrics, medicine-pediatrics, psychiatry and child psychiatry. The Kraft Center will be
responsible for matching Fellows with selected CHCs, maximizing the interests of both. It is a
goal that Fellows will continue to practice at their host site following completion of the program
if desirable and feasible for both parties.
Kraft Practitioner Program
The Kraft Practitioner Program is designed to attract, develop, and retain physicians and
advanced practice nurses for careers in community health centers. The program responds to the
stated need of CHCs for a stable, sustainable workforce of excellent clinicians to care for their
patients. CHCs selected for the Kraft Practitioner Program will have the opportunity to nominate
their physicians and advanced practice nurses to participate in the program as Kraft Practitioners.
The Kraft Center will reimburse community-based practice sites for 15% of Kraft Practitioners’
time, thus enabling them to take part in the training and career development activities offered by
the program.
Expectations for community health centers selected for the Kraft Practitioner Program include
the following:
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
Nominate up to two early career clinicians (physicians and/or advanced practice nurses)
to participate in the Kraft Practitioner Program.

Ensure the 15% protected time component of the program, as well as provide scheduling
flexibility so that Kraft Practitioners can participate in Kraft Center monthly formal daylong learning sessions, as well as other learning opportunities;

Work with their Kraft Practitioners to identify a community health or quality
improvement project that is a priority for the CHC.

Provide Kraft Practitioners with an on-site mentor for that project.

Meet with Kraft Center leadership at regular intervals to review their Kraft Practitioner’s
progress, and provide overall support for their own Practitioners, the Kraft Practitioner
Program, and the Kraft Center.
Please note that the Kraft Center will reimburse CHCs for 15% of the Practitioners salary only
(benefits not included) in exchange for protected time.
Physicians and advanced practice nurses selected for participation in the Kraft Practitioner
Program will be expected to engage fully in program activities, including:

Prepare for, attend, and actively participate in monthly Kraft Center learning days.

Complete a community health or quality improvement project, selected in consultation
with their CHC’s leadership and guided by an identified on-site mentor.

Develop career goals and a professional development plan that includes self-directed and
peer learning components.
Upon completion of the Kraft Practitioner Program, Kraft Practitioners will be expected to
remain committed to their CHC, developing into leadership roles as appropriate, serving as
mentors and role models for new clinicians beginning their careers in CHCs, and helping to build
the capacity of the site to attract and retain the next generation of clinicians. CHCs are, in turn,
expected to actively strive to carve out leadership roles and/or opportunities for Kraft
Practitioners to continue to engage in research, quality improvement, and/or program
development activities following completion of the Kraft Practitioner Program.
For a more detailed description of expectations for the Kraft Fellowship and Practitioner
programs, please see Appendix A (p. 6).
Eligibility and criteria for selecting CHCs
Key criteria for CHCs participating in the Kraft Fellowship Program and/or the Kraft Practitioner
Program are outlined below. Applicants to both programs will be required to submit
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socioeconomic data on their patient populations, as well as evidence that they are able to meet all
applicable selection criteria.
Key criteria for all community-based practice sites:



Serve a diverse, primarily low-income patient population
Engage actively in assessing and responding to community needs
Demonstrated prior experience with and participation in quality improvement initiatives
Key criteria for Kraft Fellowship Program CHCs:





Demonstrated capacity and commitment to supporting Kraft Fellows at a level
comparable to the supports provided to current clinicians, in terms of: available practice
sessions; space; clinical and administrative support; and participation in multidisciplinary
team care.
Have a need and/or place within the site’s practice for a clinician from one or more of the
disciplines (including internal medicine/ primary care, family medicine, pediatrics,
medicine-pediatrics, psychiatry and child psychiatry). (Please note that the selection
process for Kraft Fellows and thus for CHCs seeks to ensure diversity and appropriate
balance among these disciplines).
Provide Kraft Fellows with an identified primary clinical mentor.
Model shared leadership with the Chief Medical Officer or Medical Director participating
in goal-setting, strategy development, and decision-making for the site.
Be a patient-centered health home or have a commitment to practicing team-based care.
Due to the need to coordinate Kraft Fellows’ clinical practice schedules with course offerings at
the Harvard School of Public Health, the 2015 cohort of Kraft Fellowship Program CHCs will be
selected primarily from sites in the Greater Boston area.
Key criteria for Kraft Practitioner Program CHCs:




Demonstrated commitment to attracting, developing, and retaining excellent clinicians.
Capacity to support a Practitioner, including: arrangements for 15% protected time;
assignment of one or more project mentors; and scheduling flexibility to participate in
monthly day-long structured learning sessions.
Capacity to identify one or more potential community health and/or quality improvement
projects in collaboration with the Kraft Practitioner
Commitment on the part of practice site leadership to participating in relevant Kraft
Center activities.
Kraft Practitioner Program CHCs will be selected from sites throughout Massachusetts.
Selection of Kraft Practitioners:
CHCs selected for the Kraft Practitioner Program will be required to nominate up to two
clinicians (physicians and advanced practice nurses) to participate in the program. Each
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nominated clinician must be within the first five years of their CHC career and will be asked to
submit an application accompanied by a current CV.
The Kraft Center will review the applications and select a cohort of up to ten Practitioners for the
program year. The selection process will seek to ensure that the cohort of Kraft Practitioners
includes diversity and appropriate balance in terms of professions (physicians and nurses),
discipline (internal medicine/ primary care, family medicine, pediatrics, medi-peds, psychiatry
and child psychiatry), and practice site characteristics, including populations served and the
nature and types of community programs available at the site. The selection process may include
candidate interviews, as well as conversations with leaders at the nominating practice site.
More information on the Kraft Practitioner selection process will be made available to
participating CHCs.
If you have any questions about the Kraft Fellowship or Practitioner programs, or about applying
to be a Kraft-participating community health center, please contact Elizabeth Smith,
Administrative Assistant of the Kraft Center for Community Health Leadership at 617-726-3162
or esmith35@partners.org.dshtasel@partners.org.
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Appendix A:
Kraft Center Expectations
Expectations of CHC leaders
CHC leaders are the stewards of their Kraft Fellows and/or Practitioners, assuring that the
structures, mentorship, leadership opportunities and engagement with the Kraft Center will
promote successful translation and execution of our shared goals.
At the beginning of the program, CHC leaders are expected to
 Ensure that your Practitioners have a schedule that protects 15% of their time each week,
including the monthly learning days; to the extent possible, protected time should be
scheduled for Fridays.
 Identify an on-site CHC project mentor(s)* and ensure that they have the interest, expertise
and time to provide appropriate project mentorship
 If applicable, ensure appropriate orientation and integration of Fellows into your CHC
including identification of clinical mentor(s) if relevant
Throughout the program, CHC leaders are expected to
 Ensure that your Fellow/Practitioner has access to CHC-related information relevant to the
learning days’ pre-work and her/his project
 Facilitate project implementation as needed.
 Incorporate Fellows and Practitioners, if possible, into your quality improvement team
 Include Fellows and Practitioners, as appropriate, in leadership venues
 Provide at least one opportunity each year for your Kraft Center Fellow/Practitioner to
discuss the Kraft Center experience generally and describe her/his project work to CHC
leaders and staff
 Encourage your Fellow/Practitioner to present her/his project work to external audiences
 Provide introductions to individuals who might be role models relevant to the career
aspirations of your Kraft Center Fellow/Practitioner(s).
 Meet three times/year with your Fellow/Practitioner(s)
o The initial meeting will focus on career goals as well as early project priorities
including the identification of the on-site CHC project mentor(s)
o The mid-year meeting will review the Fellow/Practitioner(s) Kraft Center experience
with a focus on the status of her/his project. Prior to this meeting, the
Fellow/Practitioner will submit a written summary of project work to date.
o The year-end meeting will be a general review of the year including progress towards
career goals as appropriate.
 Complete a year-end survey monkey that will provide an opportunity for your feedback
about the performance and professional development of your Fellow/Practitioner as well as
your CHCs experience with the Kraft Center.
 Participate in Kraft CHC leadership meetings three times/year.
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Expectations of the Kraft Center
The Kraft Center will
 Identify an off-site project advisor** who will be responsible for overseeing the projects of
4-6 Fellows/Practitioners
 Provide information about CHC-related material that Fellows/Practitioners are expected to
gather as pre-work for the monthly learning sessions
 Distribute regular communications that summarize Kraft Center activities between the Kraft
Center CHC leaders meetings
 Provide an annual assessment of the engagement and participation of your
Fellow/Practitioner(s) in the Kraft Center
*On-site CHC project mentor(s): The on-site CHC project mentor(s) will provide ongoing
oversight for the Fellow/Practitioner(s) project work. The project mentor will meet a minimum
of once/month with the Fellow/Practitioner. She/he will be the CHC’s contact person for
project-related communication with the Kraft Center.
**Off-site project advisor: The off-site project advisor(s) will be an identified content and/or
methodology resource for your Fellow/Practitioner. The off-site project advisors will each
oversee 4-6 Kraft Center projects and meet regularly to discuss issues and challenges related to
the projects. The off-site project advisor will meet with your Fellow/Practitioner at regular
intervals, either in person or by phone, to provide guidance, expertise, and access to other
resources relevant to project definition, implementation and dissemination. The off-site project
advisor will also communicate with the onsite CHC project mentor(s) as needed.
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