Education and Workforce Development

The Margolis Scholars program is a prestigious program for Duke University students who demonstrate a commitment to a career in health policy and management, as well as the potential to be a leader in improving health, health equity, and health care. The program is named in honor of Robert Margolis, M.D., the founder of Duke-Margolis and a pioneer of innovative integrated care delivery models.

Scholar Program

The Margolis Scholars program is:

• Interdisciplinary. Margolis Scholars engage with students and faculty from across the university to understand a broad range of complex health policy challenges.
• Customized.  Scholars select program activities and resources to match their individual experiences, career interests and professional goals using the Duke-Margolis Health Policy Core Competency Framework as a guide.
• Connected. Students engage with our Faculty Director, Margolis Core Faculty, Senior Research Staff, Alumni and each other throughout their program tenure.
• Leadership-Oriented.  Margolis Scholars serve as health policy ambassadors for the broader Duke health policy community.

The Margolis Scholars program is a prestigious program for Duke University students who demonstrate a commitment to a career in health policy and management, as well as the potential to be a leader in improving health, health equity, and health care. The program is named in honor of Robert Margolis, M.D., the founder of Duke-Margolis and a pioneer of innovative integrated care delivery models.

The Margolis Scholars offers a one-year scholarship to third-year Duke medical students. Applicants must demonstrate a strong interest in and leadership potential for the field of health policy and commit to conducting a Scholarly Research Project on a topic at the intersection of health policy and clinical practice. Scholarly Research Projects are completed under the mentorship of a faculty member affiliated with Duke-Margolis. Applicants must identify an approved mentor who is affiliated with Duke-Margolis and a research project with a health policy focus before applying.

Scholars Fund

Selected Margolis Scholars in Medicine are eligible for a $12,500 tuition scholarship and up to $6,000/yr to apply to approved professional experiences, including:

• Professional Development Stipend ($2500) for educational activities, research activities, professional development activities
• Supplemental Experience Stipend (up to $3500) for unpaid or underpaid summer internships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships

To find out more download the fact sheet for the Margolis Scholars in Medicine program or contact:

The application process and timeline is managed through the Third Year Office through the School of Medicine. For more information please visit Third Year Curriculum page. 

The Duke-Margolis Summer Experience gives undergraduate and graduate students—enrolled at Duke and at colleges and universities around the nation—a 10-week, in-depth exposure to health policy through mentored research opportunities aimed at improving health, health equity, and the value of health care. Duke-Margolis offers its competitive internship from May through July in both its Durham, NC and Washington, DC locations. 

Summer Experience Goals

• Learn through challenging and meaningful activities
• Link academic learning to policy and practice
• Gain professional experience within the field of health policy
• Build positive relationships with faculty and staff
• Identify, clarify, and/or confirm direction as it relates to your academic studies and future career path Develop strong networking/mentoring relationships
• Strengthen our Margolis student community
• Have fun in the process!

Accepted students are paired with a Duke-Margolis faculty or research mentor for the duration of their Experience, with whom they will work to support ongoing Duke-Margolis efforts to conduct rigorous analyses on leading health policy challenges. Individual tasks will be project-specific, but will include assignments such as literature reviews, data analyses and visualizations, and writing/editing a broad variety of work products, including project reports, policy briefs, blog posts, and article submissions for peer review. 

Accepted students are paid, dependent on education level, and work approximately 40 hours per week.
 

To find out more about the Duke-Margolis Institute and our Internship Program, visit the program webpage.

Bass Connections bridges the classroom and the real world, giving students a chance to roll up their sleeves and tackle complex societal problems alongside faculty from across Duke. Working in interdisciplinary teams, graduate and undergraduate students collaborate with faculty on cutting-edge research that spans subjects, demographic groups and borders. Bass Connections builds on Duke’s culture of collaboration and fosters knowledge in service to society. Launched by a founding $50 million gift from Anne T. and Robert M. Bass P’97, Bass Connections sparked a new approach to integrating research, education and civic engagement within the university.

Building on years of experience leading Bass Connections projects, the Duke-Margolis Health Policy Center will lead a new theme focused on Health Policy & Innovation in 2023-24.

Projects accepted for this theme will implement an interdisciplinary approach to confront complex challenges in US health and health care—from the need for new and better treatments and the high cost of care to the factors that cause persistent health disparities, the rapid spread of health-related misinformation, and growing obstacles to the effective development of public health strategies at the local, state and national levels. 

Project teams of faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students will focus on the development and implementation of strategies and solutions to improve the state of our health care system through evidence-based policy analysis, the development and testing of new medical devices and service delivery models, data analysis to inform patient care and wellness, intercountry comparative analysis, new provider training and patient communications systems, and new pricing models to reduce the cost of care. Students will develop the ability to apply critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills to address complex health challenges, hone their capabilities in health policy research and analysis and gain experience working on multidisciplinary teams.

To find out more about the Duke-Margolis Bass Connections Health Policy & Innovation Theme, visit our theme page.
 

The Duke-Margolis Center fosters collaborations to increase innovative, interdisciplinary education and training opportunities offered in health policy across schools and departments.

We pursue a health policy curriculum that integrates foundational, investigative, and experiential learning opportunities beyond the classroom through faculty and departmental partnerships with our interdisciplinary Bass Connections Health Policy & Innovation theme. For more information on our health policy related courses click here. 

Health care is at once a critical part of people’s lives and a highly consequential part of the U.S. economy. Health policy works at the intersection of how health care is delivered to consumers and communities, and its effect on the economy, society, governments, and the private sector. Health policy researchers seek evidence-based solutions to the leading issues and problems confronting our health system.

Duke-Margolis and the Sanford School of Public Policy jointly educate students in evidence-based health policy analysis, development, and implementation so they are prepared to address complex challenges in health and health care at local, state, national, and global levels.  

Click here for more information.