time on your hands this year?
Are you a student or junior Christian professional training in healthcare, law, social work or another field that intersects with the health & justice arena?
Do you have a heart for detainees & other vulnerable patient groups?
And do you like the idea of helping to grow part of our heart - healthcare, expertise, advocacy, research and training?
JOIN OUR Health & Justice Fellowship!
For 2021-2022, our second fellowship year, we are looking for at least five fellows - one for each of our five services.
Learn about a day in the life of our advocacy fellow.
Chat to one of our recent fellows or our Chief Operations Officer.
And read details of our five fellowships:-
Here’s the ABC…
You
Apply: volunteer some of your time in a predictable pattern
Become: fulfil your fellowship’s duties (see the post descriptions in the above links)
Continue: do whatever else you need to do - eg a BSc, another course or locuming
Us
Assess: consider your skills and situation, and match them to our needs
Begin: get you inducted into Team Integritas
Care: support you throughout your time on our team:-
supportive line management
1:1 mentoring
fellowship teaching scheme plus helping out on our Health & Justice Track
… and the frequently asked questions
Are there different grades of fellow?
Yes. If you’re a student, you’ll be a student fellow. If you’re a qualified professional who hasn’t completed core training, you’ll be a junior fellow. And if you’re more senior or a junior fellow staying on for a second year, you’ll be a senior fellow.
Could I be paired with another fellow?
Yes. We accept post shares and we also welcome applications from two or more friends.
Do I get to choose which fellowship I’m appointed to?
When you apply, you express a preference to become our Healthcare Fellow, Expertise Fellow, Advocacy Fellow, Research Fellow or Training Fellow. During the recruitment process, we will discuss how well your background & skills match up to your preferred fellowship’s duties & required skills; the healthcare & training fellowships are restricted to student & junior healthcare professionals (HCPs). We then aim to come to a mutually-agreed decision about the best fellowship for you. In rare situations, we may agree to a hybrid fellowship with you sharing more than one service domain with another fellow.
Do I get to visit the Philippines as part of my fellowship?
Not as an official part of the fellowship. But, COVID-permitting, you are more than welcome to do some or all of your fellowship whilst based at Integritas House Olongapo, our main base in the Philippines. If you choose to do this, then you’ll need to contribute to your board & lodging and also pay your own travel expenses. But you’d be more than welcome to take up this option and of course we’d amend your fellowship duties to ensure that you worked hand-in-glove with our Filipino team.
Does it matter where in the world I’m based?
No, as long as you have a reliable & secure internet connection and do not reside in a country that prohibits Christian online activity.
Does it matter where my qualification is from?
No, we can use you wherever in the world you study/studied.
How might doing a fellowship help my career?
We will tailor your professional development programme (PDP) around your career aspirations. For example: if you want to become an ENT surgeon then we could give you an offender healthcare ENT case study to write up and submit for publication; if you’re going to be a social worker, then we could get you working on a quality improvement project (QIP) with our own social worker; and if you want to be a criminal barrister, we could get you doing research on how legal advice does or doesn’t serve Filipino detainees. These are all things that look good on a CV. All of our three 2020-2021 fellows have bright futures: Lavinia is staying on as our new Chief Operations Officer, and Esme & Henry have won coveted places on NHS psychiatric & surgical core training schemes respectively.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. There is no fee to join the fellowship scheme. However, if you do do any travelling (such as attending an away day), you’ll need to cover your own travel expenses.
How much time can I take off?
You need to treat the fellowship like you would a job, applying for up to six weeks of annual leave (with four weeks being taken by default in August) and one week of study leave, both pro rata. That said, we always try to accommodate volunteer’s leave preferences and time-off-in-lieu is also possible.
Is IT doable remotely?
Yes, absolutely. Although you are welcome to be based in London or the Philippines, which is where our offices are, remote working is our modus operandi. We have daily Zoom devotions and a fully-functioning virtual Zoom office, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to bond (though in pandemic-style) with the rest of our team.
So don’t fellows ever meet up in person?
Depending upon the course of the pandemic, we are aiming for a face-to-face away weekend plus a face-to-face Christmas party. And if you are based near London or in the Philippines, you are welcome (though not at all obliged) to work in our offices.
What’s the line management like?
You will be allocated suitable line management; for example, our Advocacy Fellow does a lot of social media & blogging and so is line managed by both our IT Manager & our Chief Medical Officer. And then, depending upon how many hours you volunteer each week, you will meet with your line manager(s) every one or two weeks.
Like all members of Team Integritas, you will have regular internal reviews. Although fellows who are with us for shorter periods of time have bespoke arrangements, year-long fellows have the following reviews:-
welcome meeting
three-month review to set professional development programme (PDP) goals
six-month full appraisal including 360 degree feedback
nine-month review
exit meeting
What’s the Mentoring like?
Mentoring is a more flexible feast. All of our 2020-2021 fellows were offered mentoring: one fellow took up the offer and, after due consideration of her wishes & needs, is being now being mentored by one of our Board of Reference members who is an expert in competent compassion. We encourage you to take up our mentorship offer but, unlike line management meetings, it remains optional.
What’s the Teaching Programme like?
New for 2021-2022, our fellowship’s teaching programme runs from September to July; the webinars will be on the second Wednesday evening of each month. The curriculum supplements the Health & Justice Track that we run in partnership with the Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF):-
September: What is justice?
October: Biblical justice
November: Justice here & now
December: Health & Justice on the streets
January: Health & Justice in the public square
February: Health & Justice for the migrant
March: Health & Justice for the addicted
April: Health, Justice & me
May: Health & Justice for women & children
June: Health & Justice for those with mental illness
July: Health & Justice behind bars
As a fellow, you will also be involved in delivering the Health & Justice Track and so you will need to attend the monthly track meetings. You will be buddied up with a subset of track delegates, so that you can assist in their small group work during the monthly webinars & virtual conferences. Here are the 2021-2022 webinar & conference dates:-
14th September: webinar
16th-17th October: Autumn conference
16th November: webinar
15th-16th January 2022: Winter conference
15th February: webinar
15th March: webinar
1st-2nd April: Spring conference
17th May: webinar
14th June: webinar
16th-17th July: Summer conference
The conferences may be virtual or hybrid, depending upon the course of the pandemic in the UK. You will be obliged to attend a particular conference in person only if it is safe to do so and you are highly involved in its delivery; otherwise your virtual attendance is required.
In addition, we also encourage you to attend the track’s end-of-month film clubs and chew-the-cud reflective sessions.
What do our staff say about ths year’s fellows?
One of the pandemic’s silver linings has been the inadvertent launch of our Health & Justice Fellowship Programme. Esme, Henry and Lavinia have been massive blessings to Team Integritas.
Esme’s passion for digital advocacy has lifted our blogging & social media work up to a whole new level. She’s also chairing our strategic planning committee, which is developing our 2022-2024 three year plan. Henry’s love of training has seen us launch our first online special study course (SSC) and a great in-house rolling staff training programme. He’s also co-led the roll-out of our electronic medical records (EMR) system. Lavinia has been a massive boost to our translation team and is taking our organisation’s information governance to a whole new level. And all three of them have been key players in our emerging telemedicine service.
(Dr Rachael Pickering, Chief Medical Officer)
What do this year’s fellows say?
It’s been a brilliant opportunity being a fellow and I’d recommend to anyone!
(Dr Esme MacKrill, 2020-2021’s Advocacy Fellow)
What’s the necessary time commitment & availability?
We like fellows to volunteer between one and five days a week in a predictable pattern, although we will work around medical team rotas. (We will consider just half a day a week, but then you would need to contribute towards your participation in the Health & Justice Track). Tuesdays would be ideal as our morning devotions on that day tend to involve the whole team. In addition to the time you volunteer to us, you will need to allow additional time to participate in the Health & Justice Track and the Fellowship's seminars.
What will my duties be?
Your duties are laid out in the post description of your particular fellowship:-
You will also do a QIP (as already mentioned) and a case-based discussion; these will be presented at the end of your fellowship.
If you’re a student or qualified HCP, you will also participate in our telemedicine service.
When does the fellowship start & Finish?
Our fellowship programme is a year long. The fellowship’s teaching programme runs for eleven months of the year, from the start of September to the end of July. These dates have been chosen to coincide with the Health & Justice Track and other typical commitments (such as BScs & healthcare training rotations) that fellows tend to engage in.
However, though we encourage fellows to start in September and do a full year, we accept that life is more complex than it used to be pre-COVID. So recruitment is now a rolling process, you may start & finish at any time of the year, and we also accept shorter-term fellows; six months is the minimum duration we generally consider, four months in exceptional circumstances.
When is the closing date for applicationS?
There is no set closing date. However, if you want to have your pick of fellowship options, it’s best to get in early ahead of the fellowship year’s official September start date. We accept & allocate applicants on a first-come, first-served basis. And, as already said, you can apply and start at any time of the year.
Will I need to be on a professional register?
If you’re a qualified HCP, it would be ideal for you to be on a medical register and - within bodies such as the General Medical Council - have a licence to practice. This is so you can participate in our telemedicine rota without unnecessary amounts of supervision. However, we have a supervision system in place for those fellows who cannot be registered +/- licensed for their fellowship year, so that they can still perform telemedicine in a legal & responsible manner.