East Bay Consortium
Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship (EBC-APPF)
Welcome
Welcome aspiring Advanced Practice Providers! Since its inception, the East Bay Consortium - Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship (EBC-APPF) Program has led the way in creating a post-graduate training experience that focuses on health equity and clinical excellence. Just as we care for the whole patient at our clinics, we educate the whole person by fostering resiliency, creating community, and teaching you the clinical content and skills you need to care for systemically disadvantaged populations in a busy, always evolving, community health setting. We’re glad you found your way to the EBC-APPF and to this profession, and we can’t wait to meet you!
About Us
The East Bay Consortium - Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship (EBC-APPF) is a rigorous 12-month program for newly graduated Family Nurse Practitioners, Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants who are interested in delivering primary care services within community health settings. Our mission is to train advanced practice providers to provide comprehensive, competent, and compassionate care to a diverse and underserved low-income population across the lifespan using an evidence-based, trauma-informed and collaborative approach. Under the shared goal of building a diverse and excellent advanced practice provider workforce and improving access to quality care for systemically disadvantaged communities, we harness the clinical expertise of providers from our health centers to offer trainees a unique curriculum and program structure that consists of primary care and specialty clinic rotations, weekly didactics, and a health equity project. Trainees who complete the 12-month program often graduate at the level of an APP who has been in practice for 2-3 years.
The EBC-APPF was born from LifeLong Medical Care’s Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, which had been in place since 2015. In 2019, the EBC-APPF was created as a partnership between four Federally Qualified Community Health Centers and one academic center: Bay Area Community Health, La Clinica, LifeLong Medical Care, Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, and University of California San Francisco’s School of Nursing (UCSF-SON). Beginning September 2023, the EBC-APPF consolidated its clinical sites to two of the largest Federally Qualified Community Health Centers within the East Bay—La Clinica and LifeLong Medical Care. We invite you to visit our Program Structure section below to learn more about our program!
2024-2025 Application Cycle
- Application cycle opens: January 17, 2024. Apply now with this link.
- Application due: March 15, 2024 - We are reviewing applications on a rolling basis until the positions are filled.
- Info session/webinar dates released:
- Info sessions/webinars:
- Interview Invitations: March 18-29, 2024
- Interviews: April 1-12, 2024
- Final Decisions: May 10, 2024
- Fellowship Start Date: September 23, 2024
- For more information: adm_appfellowship_sm@lifelongmedical.org
Mission
Our mission is to train newly graduated advanced practice providers to provide comprehensive, competent and compassionate care to a diverse and underserved low-income population across the lifespan using an evidence-based, trauma-informed and collaborative approach.
Program Overview
Program Structure
The 12-month EBC-APPF Program is structured around the following areas:
Precepted continuity clinic (6-7 half day shifts/week)
- 2:1 fellow to preceptor ratio per shift; each fellow has their own schedule of patients.
- Fellows start with a patient load of 4 patients/shift at the start of the program and ramp-up to about 80% of a full provider’s patient load by the end of the fellowship year.
- Preceptors consist of experienced providers: CNM, DO, MD, NP, or PA
- Preceptors’ schedules are blocked so that their time is dedicated to mentoring, consultation, and observation of the fellow pair
- Over the course of the year, fellows will gradually increase their level of independence as they assume ownership of assessments, treatment plans, follow up, laboratory and diagnostic results, and patient communication
Mentored specialty clinic (1-2 half day shifts/week)
- Generally, 1 fellow working with 1 preceptor; fellow typically works from the preceptor’s schedule
- Specialty rotations vary across host sites and typically involve commuting to a different location.
- Examples of specialty care rotations: Urgent Care, Prenatal Care, MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment), Gerontology, Street Medicine, School-Based Medicine, and/or procedure clinic (specialty rotations are dependent on site, preceptor availability and COVID restrictions
Didactics (1 half day/week)
- Includes presentations on clinical, health equity, and community health topics ranging from Well Child visits, CHF management, HTN guidelines, gender-affirming care, Food as Medicine, Structural Competency, EKG interpretation and more.
- Bi-monthly interdisciplinary didactics with LifeLong Medical Care Family Medicine Residents
- Opportunities for problem-based learning
- Space for anti-oppression discussions and presentations created by and for fellows
- Peer consult and professional development group sessions with trained behavioral health staff
- Mix of in-person and Zoom meetings*
*In-person meetings require commuting from host site to centralized meeting space.
Health Equity Project
- An opportunity for fellows to focus on a social or political topic of their choice that influences health or healthcare.
- The assignment aims to promote personal and collective reflection on how to make our clinical practices more just, anti-oppressive and rooted in social change.
- An opportunity to develop presentation, facilitation and leadership skills.
Sample Weekly Schedule
The following is meant to provide an idea of what a typical week in the residency may look like:
| AM | Pediatrics | Adult Medicine | Gyn | Adult Medicine | Adult Medicine |
| PM | Pediatrics | Admin | Urgent Care | Didactics | Adult Medicine |
Program Structure
What Makes Us Unique?
- High quality mentorship and preceptorship. Our preceptors all participate in rigorous teacher training from the Teach for UCSF Certificate Program.
- Diverse clinical rotations and curriculum tailored to prepare you for caring for systemically disadvantaged populations in a clinically innovative urban setting.
- Commitment to program improvement and academic excellence guided by our partnership with UC-San Francisco School of Nursing.
- Strong demonstrated commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity embedded in curriculum and values of the organization.
- Every facet of learning is interdisciplinary. Training staff include professionals from diverse personal and professional backgrounds; some didactic sessions are offered in collaboration with Family Medicine Residency program.
What Makes Us Unique?
Clinical Sites
La Clinica
2 fellows
- Family Medicine, Urgent Care, OB/GYN, School-based, Pediatrics, procedure clinic.
- Fellows rotate through Transit Village and School Based Health Centers.
- Spanish-speaking fluency required.
- Open to Family Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants.
LifeLong Medical Care
6 fellows
- Brookside San Pablo (2 fellows): Adult Primary Care, Pediatric Primary Care, Gynecology, Urgent Care. Spanish-speaking fluency required. Open to Family Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants.
- West Berkeley (2 fellows): Family Medicine (integrated Adult and Pediatric Primary Care), Gynecology, MAT, Urgent Care, procedure clinic. Open to Family Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants. Two of the fellows will be in the Behavioral Health Track which includes time at TRUST Health Center and Street Medicine Outreach.
Clinical Sites
DEI & Anti-Oppression Curriculum Integration
The EBC-APPF curriculum, including didactics and clinical rotations, will highlight what APPs need to know to serve high risk/low-income patients with a focus especially on population health, behavioral health and substance use disorders. Caring for patients with a history of trauma can lead to vicarious trauma and a high rate of burnout. This can be especially true for providers from disadvantaged backgrounds whose own experience may be similar to that of their patients. The program provides dedicated time in didactics to process these experiences and aims to create a supportive community in which fellows can lean on one another as they build their resilience. Fellows will be encouraged to lean on each other for support as they build their resilience.
Want to Learn More?
Benefits
Residents are hired by the FQHC where they will spend the majority of their rotations. However, benefits are similar across all sites.
- Residents earn 70% of starting Nurse Practitioner wages at their Federally-Qualified Health Center
- Paid time off, sick and vacation
- Comprehensive medical and dental benefits
- 403B retirement plan
- CME funds and time off
- DEA reimbursement
- Loan deferment & Perkins/Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility
- Post-fellowship employment counseling
Benefits & Pay
Eligibility & How to Apply
Apply now with this link.
Applicants must meet the following qualifications to become eligible to apply:
- Completed MSN, DNP or PA program within 18 months from the start of the program
- California state RN & NP or PA license by start of program
- Family Nurse Practitioner, Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant certified by accredited agency by start of program
- Demonstrated commitment to work in safety net setting
- Bilingual (especially Spanish) required for some positions
- CV/Resume (2 pages max) should include names/locations/dates of clinical rotations and # of hours.
- Unofficial MSN, DNP, or PA transcripts (Up until current date. Proof of graduation is not necessary to apply.)
- Two letters of recommendations (combination of professional, preceptor and/or academic program). The application will include a form to provide your recommenders. Your two recommenders should submit the form via e-mail adm_appfellowship_SM@lifelongmedical.org by March 17, 2024, to consider your application complete.
- Personal Statement: The application form will provide space for you to answer each of the following 4 questions. Each question should consist of 250-500 words.
1. What inspires you to train in community health and primary care? If there are any personal and/or professional experiences that lead you to pursue community health and primary care, please discuss this.
2. What motivates you to pursue additional training through the EBC-APPF? What do you hope to get out of the program?
3. What do you think your biggest challenge would be joining the fellowship program and how would you navigate this?
4. If you speak Spanish or any other language in addition to English, how strong are your language skills now (how far can you get in a patient interview without an interpreter?)
.
Eligibility & How to Apply
LifeLong Medical Care is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
The East Bay Consortium - Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship (EBC-APPF) is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $3,200,000 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.