The latest virtual issue of PS features articles written by alumni of the Congressional Fellowship Program (CFP) from 2010 to 2015. The CFP fellows serve yearlong placements in congressional and executive offices, and they chronicle their firsthand experiences in the pages of PS. Enjoy the full virtual issue here.
A Health Professional’s Political Science Education: Lessons from a Congressional Fellowship
Nadine Braunstein, Towson University
“Political science coursework is rarely required in the curricula for the health professions. My education and training to become a registered dietitian in the 1970s was no exception. Although I lacked this formal training, being a 2013–2014 APSA Congressional Fellow through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Health Policy Fellows program allowed me to receive a real-world, hands-on political science education…Several experiences before the fellowship provided an entry point into my political education. When I served as president of the Massachusetts Dietetic Association (MDA) in the 1990s, I had the opportunity to attend my professional association’s public policy workshop in Washington, DC, make Hill visits to the offices of then-congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), meet with the late congressman Joe Moakley (D-MA) (then chair of the House Rules Committee), and give an award the late senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) in his Boston office. At that time, dietitians in Massachusetts did not have licensure, so there were hearings on Beacon Hill where I gave testimony on behalf of MDA. This was the start of my political education…” Read More.
- Read more Capitol Hill Insights in PS: Political Science & Politics.
- Learn more about the Congressional Fellowship Program.
PS: Political Science & Politics / Volume 48 / Issue 02 / April 2015, pp 403-406