April 20, 2007

The Pain & Policy Studies Group is pleased to announce the 2007 International Pain Policy Fellowship. Currently in its second year, the goal of the Fellowship Program is to improve the availability of opioid analgesics for pain management in patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, or other chronic diseases.

Applications will be accepted from mid-career level physicians, pharmacists, health care administrators, policy makers, social workers or lawyers from a health care facility, policy center, or university in low or middle income countries. The Fellow must commit to spending 20% of his/her professional time on the project. Preference will be given to applications that demonstrate a willingness of the Ministry of Health to participate in the Fellowship.

The two-year Fellowship program will include training, mentoring, and an in-country pain policy project. A salary stipend will be provided to cover a portion of each fellow’s professional salary. Applicants must have a sincere interest in improving access to opioid analgesics for pain management through drug policy advocacy.

Fellows are required to participate in a five-day learner-centered training program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin from 22 October to 26 October, 2007. The training program will cover the relationships between disease, pain, palliative care, and inadequate opioid availability, and will use WHO Guidelines to examine regulatory barriers and resources for evaluating national policy, as well as examples of their use. Each Fellow will be responsible for outlining their drug availability project plan and timeline during the training program in Madison, and then incorporating it into their in-country pain policy project.

The deadline for receipt of completed applications is Friday, 15 June 2007.

This program is funded by the International Palliative Care Initiative of the Open Society Institute and directed by the Pain & Policy Studies Group of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center

For more information and the application form, please visit: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/ipci/grants/palliative