NAAOP Breece Fellowship 2025

Released: December 2, 2024

Deadline for Application Submission: January 20, 2025 at 12:00 Midnight, Eastern Time

The National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP) (www.naaop.org) is soliciting applications for its annual George and Dena Breece Health Policy and Advocacy Fellowship. NAAOP is a national nonprofit association advocating for consumers/patients requiring orthotic and prosthetic care, as well as the providers who serve them. The NAAOP Breece Fellowship is a paid, 9-week summer program based in Washington, D.C. One Fellow will be selected for the 2025 term. The Fellow will learn about orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) policy and advocacy at the federal level, and how NAAOP and other O&P organizations function on behalf of the O&P community — and in the broader context of rehabilitation and disability policy and advocacy. The Fellowship also includes exposure to O&P clinical and business settings inside and outside of Washington, DC, and state-based public policy and advocacy.

The selection of the Breece Fellow for 2025 will be through a competitive process using this application and related documents electronically submitted by applicants by the deadline, Monday, January 20, 2025, by 12:00 Midnight, Eastern Time. Finalists will be interviewed via videoconference and one Fellow will be selected. If the finalist selected cannot accept the fellowship for any reason, the next highest ranked candidate will be offered the position.

Candidate Selection Criteria

Required Elements: All applicants must:

Personally use a custom-fabricated orthosis or prosthesis (orthotic brace or prosthetic limb);
Have an interest in public/health policy and advocacy;
Demonstrate an interest in advancing O&P care;
Have excellent writing, speaking, and analytical skills;
Be able to spend nine weeks in the summer of 2025 in Washington, D.C. working full-time in this Fellowship;
Be willing and able to travel (with or without reasonable accommodations) for periods of short duration; and,
Must live full-time in the United States and have proof of legal citizen or residency status.

Preferred Elements: Ideal candidates will possess the following traits:

A college degree (associate or bachelor’s degree) and/or a post-graduate degree (or enrollment in a program to receive an undergraduate or graduate degree) preferably in an area reflective of an interest in policy, advocacy, law, government, healthcare, or orthotics and prosthetics;
Significant personal and/or professional knowledge of the health care system;
An interest in or understanding of the U.S. federal and state political systems;
A longer-term goal of developing a career in public policy, advocacy, law, government, health care, or orthotics and prosthetics.

NAAOP Fellowship Details

The NAAOP Breece Fellow will receive a stipend of $656.25 per week for the duration of the fellowship (9 weeks of work with a one-week, unpaid break for the July 4^th holiday). NAAOP will provide the Fellow with an office, phone, and computer in the offices of NAAOP’s counsel, the Powers Law Firm, at 1250 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 8^th Floor, Washington, DC 20036. NAAOP will assist the Fellow in exploring summer housing options with area colleges or other locations for those with no other housing alternative. NAAOP will offer a stipend for housing to help assist the Fellow in securing appropriate housing.

The Breece Fellow will shadow NAAOP’s General Counsel, Peter W. Thomas, who will assign and oversee the Fellow’s health policy and advocacy work. That work will focus on orthotics and prosthetics but will also include exposure to the broader rehabilitation and disability policy environment. The Fellow will meet with each of the major provider and consumer O&P associations to familiarize them with the role played by these groups. NAAOP counsel will seek to expose the Fellow to events such as policy and advocacy speakers, attendance at Congressional hearings and other important meetings, participation in coalition and “think tank” meetings/presentations throughout Washington, and meetings with other rehabilitation organizations to gain an appreciation of the broader rehabilitation and disability field.

To familiarize the Breece Fellow with the current O&P clinical and business environment, the Fellow will travel to certain O&P clinical practices and businesses to spend time with O&P professionals in those settings. In addition to learning about clinical orthotic and prosthetic patient care, the Fellow will be exposed to a clinical O&P laboratory and other O&P business operations. Finally, the Fellow will be introduced to state-based policy and advocacy while on these excursions. Travel and lodging expenses will be provided at no cost to the Fellow.

Timing

Application Deadline: Monday, January 20, 2025 at 12:00 Midnight, Eastern Time

Applications and any additional documentation must be submitted electronically to Fellowship@naaop.org.

Fellowship Selection Announcement: Early March 2025

Fellowship Term: 9-week period, late May-early August, plus one week of unpaid vacation during the July 4th holiday week.

Download the form below to apply: