I. Purpose of a Fellowship in EACH

The Executive Committee of EACH: International Association for Communication in Healthcare, proposes to honour those of its members who make substantial contributions to the EACH mission by offering a Fellowship in EACH. The mission of EACH is to provide an academic and practical professional community to those involved in investigating and improving communication in healthcare. Through EACH, researchers, educators, practitioners and policy makers share their expertise to understand and enhance communication between health care providers, patients, and their families. The fellowship is an honorary title that will be conferred on a bi-annual basis at the EACH hosted ICCH meeting.

The 2024 Applications will open on 1 March 2024 and the deadline for applications will be 19 May 2024.

II. Criteria for a Fellowship in EACH

To be considered for an EACH Fellowship a candidate must have shown a commitment to the Association through:

• Being a member of EACH for a minimum of six (6) years (does not have to be consecutive years) including the year in which the application is being made.
• Substantial  “Service to EACH” as demonstrated through active contribution to multiple EACH committees, events, resources and/or activities.  To qualify for the fellowship, the candidate must provide evidence of substantive and active contribution by describing their participation in specific EACH projects and activities that extend beyond standard membership and attendance of relevant EACH committee meetings (Described in more detail below).

III. Examples of activities and positions in Service to EACH that meet fellowship criteria 

A. EACH standing committee membership: Being a member of the following EACH committees can be counted toward fellowship criteria if description of the substantive contributions made as a committee member, beyond just attending committee meetings, is included.

• Active advisory committee member as national or deputy national representative or co-chair (substantive contributions would include establishment/lead of national EACH network, organizing local EACH activities/courses, member of AC working group, etc).
• Active subcommittee (tEACH, pEACH, rEACH) member (substantive contributions would include serving as co or deputy chair, working group lead, contributing to specific projects such as courses, databases, resource creation, publications, etc).
• Active executive committee member, detailing substantive contributions and impact of initiatives.
• Active EACH Special Interest Group member (substantive contributions would include serving as a SIG officer, contributing to specific projects such as networking events, databases, resource creation, publications, etc)

B. EACH periodic committee membership/participation

• (Co)Chair or Member of the ICCH or Forum (formerly Summer Event) planning committee
• ICCH/Forum abstract reviewer
• Summer School Planning
• Summer School Facilitator
• Senior in Pairing with Colleagues initiative
• Member of Expert Jury for EACH Awards (Poster, Research, Teaching Award)

C.  EACH projects, products and dissemination activities: Note some of these contributions may be in capacity as standing EACH committee member.

• Development of EACH products such as teaching or research tools/resources
• Developing initiatives that advance or publicise the work of EACH, for example, by hosting regional, national or international meetings, or cultivating active collaborations between EACH and other organisations’
• Development of EACH courses and courses co-developed by EACH and other organisations
• Creating and delivering an EACH sponsored networking or workshop session
• Written contributions in PEC highlighting EACH work
• Keynote lectures about communication in healthcare highlighting the work of EACH
• Publications about communication in healthcare highlighting aspects of the work of EACH
• Delivering communication in healthcare presentations highlighting the work of EACH

Application Process for EACH Fellowship

Fellowship candidates need to be self nominated. There will be no additional process for candidate nominations by other EACH members. We would ask all EACH members to encourage their colleagues to apply.

The application should be completed by the applicant.

As part of the online application candidates will be asked for the following information/materials:

1. Years as a member of EACH
2. Any EACH committees you have served on including dates of service
3. Descriptions of substantive contributions to EACH as outlined in section III
4. Identification of whom in EACH can attest to your contributions (committee chairs, co-chairs, etc)
5. A narrative outlining a candidate’s experience (in lieu of a CV)
6. An application letter from the candidate briefly describing the reasons why the candidate should qualify for the fellowship and highlighting what the candidate thinks their most substantive contributions to EACH have been that have helped to forward the EACH aims. This letter should be single spaced and no longer than 1 page.

Fellowship checklist. We include this worksheet as an application aid to completion of the application fields. THIS DOES NOT NEED TO BE SUBMITTED.  Attached is a preview of the online form to assist you in gathering the information required for the application.  Please note that all applications must be submitted using the online application form.

Selection Process for Awarding the Honour of an EACH Fellowship

An announcement, requesting self nominations for the EACH Fellowship and detailing criteria for the self nomination and selection process, shall be disseminated through the various EACH communication channels every even year (bi-annually).

A review committee, appointed by the Executive Committee each cycle, will weigh and assess the criteria using the candidate’s application information and confirmation of substantive contributions from SAS and committee chairs.

Decision notifications will be emailed to candidates. Successful candidates will be formally awarded the fellowship at the ICCH conference corresponding to the award year.

The Fellowship selection committee’s decisions will reflect the commitment of EACH to inclusion and equity.  We celebrate the diversity of our global membership  and value equality of opportunity.  We welcome applications from all of our members and we are committed to ensuring representation across our healthcare communication community as we consider applications for this award.

Timeline for selection process:

Committee review of applications – 1 March – 19 May
Recommendations to Executive – 4 June
Notifications to successful applicants – 5 June – 5 July
Awards will be made at ICCH 2024 in Zaragoza, Spain at a special ceremony