The year-long program offers fellows the opportunity to participate in a residential track or a non-residential track. The residential track allows fellows to participate in the policymaking process on either the Federal or state level as legislative assistants in Congress, professional staff members in executive branch agencies or policy organizations. The non-residential track allows fellows to remain at their home institution but work on a policy project that involves brief placement(s) throughout the year at relevant sites. Core program components focused on career development and professional enrichment are provided for fellows in both tracks. Fellows also have the opportunity to apply for second-year funding to continue components of their fellowship experience/project either at their placement sites, at the state/local levels, or with non-governmental organizations. Our key partner in this effort is the American Political Science Association which has established the most respected and longest running policy fellowship program in Washington, DC.

We would like to specially acknowledge our partnerships with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the John A. Hartford Foundation, the Gerontological Society of American (GSA) and their National Hartford Centers for Gerontological Nursing Excellence and the Veterans Health Administration. These organizations have committed support for Health and Aging Policy Fellows and these partnerships are an essential component of support for the Health and Aging Policy Fellowship to expand the program experience and the impact of the fellowship.

We have also strong collaborations with AcademyHealth, AARP, the American Society on Aging (ASA), the National Council on Aging (NCOA), the American Geriatrics Society, the Practice Change Fellows Program, as well as other agencies including: the National Institute on Aging, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Administration for Community Living, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, and others.

(For more information, please see this website under "About the Fellowship - Partnerships" at www.healthandagingpolicy.org/about/congressional_fellow.html.)

The Health and Aging Policy Fellows program is directed by Harold Alan Pincus, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University (in collaboration with the American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship Program) and made possible by the generous support of The Atlantic Philanthropies.

The mission of The Atlantic Philanthropies is to bring about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Through its Ageing Programme, The Atlantic Philanthropies aims to help transform how aging is viewed within society and improve the way older persons are treated by society. They focus on aging in Bermuda, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the United States. General aims include ensuring that older adults:

• are treated with dignity and respect;
• are fully empowered to shape their own destinies;
• have access to health and support systems;
• are represented by a strong cadre of leaders; and
• are able to contribute actively their expertise and abilities for the good of society.