The Ruth and Vernon Taylor
Summer Fellowship Awards
for Summer 2008

Through a gift of endowment funds from the Ruth and Vernon Taylor Foundation, Macalester offers a limited number of summer fellowships for students interested in a career in healthcare (e.g. medicine, nursing, veterinary, dentistry or other allied healthcare professions). These fellowships pay $1,400 for three weeks (120 hours) to shadow one or more health professionals in various hospital, clinical and research settings in the Twin Cities or elsewhere. In consultation with the director, the fellowships can be carried out over three full-time (40 hours) weeks or split up over more than three weeks.

To qualify, a Macalester student must have a strong academic record and submit an application. The experience typically takes place over the summer and must be completed prior to graduation. At the conclusion of the fellowship, students must keep a journal of activities and present a written paper summarizing and evaluating the fellowship experience. The awarding of academic credit for Taylor Fellowships is specifically prohibited.

In preparation for the Taylor application process, students are encouraged to contact one or more health care providers to work out the details of the shadowing experience.  Students may contact a provider directly or may make an appointment with Professor Liz Jansen to get more information on local sites that have provided good opportunities in the past.

Application Process

To apply for a Taylor Fellowship, please complete the following steps:

1. Fill out the application cover sheet.
2. Write an essay to address each of the following questions. (The response for each question should be about one page, double spaced)
   • a) Why are you interested in this opportunity? What are your career interests? What do you hope to learn through this experience?  What professions do you hope to explore?
   • b) Given that there will be more qualified applicants for this program than we can support, discuss the factors that make you an excellent candidate for the kind of shadowing experience that the Taylor Fellowship supports.
3. Attach your college transcript to the application materials.  This need not be an official transcript; you may print it off the web.
4. You will need two letters of recommendation or you can give each of your recommenders this form:  Taylor Recommendation Form
   

DEADLINE
The application form, essays, and transcript must be submitted in quadruplicate to Patty Byrne Pfalz, Biology Department by February 25, 2008. Students will be notified of their acceptance into the program by mid-March. If you have not already done so, after acceptance into the program, you will meet with Professor Liz Jansen to discuss contacting medical practitioners and developing a specific plan.  At that time, you will also learn more about the reporting requirements for this award.  We require that you keep a daily journal and write a reflection paper at the end of the experience.  Professor Jansen will provide more details on these documents during your meeting with her.

To learn more about the Taylor Fellowship experience, interested individuals may contact the following students, who completed summer fellowships last year:

Megan Thompson, Leah Ramsey, Karly Rogers, Erica Schultz, Michael Waul, Emily Sliz, Ben Larson, Xiabo Ke, Dong Lucia Wang, Michela Bolla, Nate Crider, Rebecca Wing, Zainab Mansaray, Benjamin Galick, Samantha Dunmire, Nokuthula Kitikiti