Emerging Physician Leader Award and Sadler Fellowship

Recognizing promising physician leadership for a sustainable future

Emerging Physician Leadership Award and the Blair and Georgia Sadler Fellowship at Health Care Without Harm

Application deadline has passed

The Emerging Physician Leader Award was established by the Health Care Without Harm Physician Network in 2018 to support the next generation of physician climate and sustainability leaders. The award recognizes medical students, residents, and fellows who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing environmentally responsible, climate-smart health care through mitigation, resilience and leadership, along with working on climate solutions to protect health. This year, the award is offered by Health Care Without Harm in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Emerging Physician Leader Award recipients will receive:

  • Free registration to CleanMed Salt Lake City from May 21-23
  • Up to three nights in the CleanMed Salt Lake City conference hotel
  • A travel stipend for transportation to and from the conference
  • A $1,000 grant to support a project that aligns with the goals of the Health Care Without Harm Physician Network to support physician and medical student action to reduce the environmental impact of health delivery and promote climate-smart health care through mitigation, resilience, and leadership

Thanks to a generous gift from Blair and Georgia Sadler, Health Care Without Harm established the The Blair and Georgia Sadler Fellowship in 2022 to engage and empower emerging clinical health leaders who want to work on equitable, climate-smart health care in their institutions and communities.

Applicants can indicate if they want to be considered for the Blair and Georgia Sadler Fellowship in addition to being considered for the Emerging Physician Leader Award. Learn more about the Blair and Georgia Sadler Fellowship application requirements and fellowship expectations.

Applications are due Jan. 29, 11:59 PT. Winners will be notified via email in early to mid-March. Applicants who are not selected for the Emerging Physician Leader Award or Sadler Fellowship may be considered for the Stephanie Davis Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention Award and Scholarship.

Please review the grant terms and guidelines and eligibility requirements before you submit your application. Applicants who are interested in being considered for the Sadler Fellowship should also review the application requirements and fellowship expectations.

Previous recipients of the Sadler Fellowship, Emerging Physician Leader Award or Stephanie Davis Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention Award and Scholarship are not eligible for this year’s award.

Please contact Dr. Amy Collins if you have any questions.

Eligibility and terms

The Emerging Physician Leader (EPL) Award and the The Blair and Georgia Sadler Fellowship are open to U.S. members of the Health Care Without Harm Physician Network residing in the United States. Network membership is free. If you are not a member you can join now.

Applicants who want to be considered for the Sadler Fellowship in addition to the EPL Award must:

  • Identify an institutional advisor who agrees to serve as a project advisor during the fellowship year
  • Obtain a letter of support from a medical student dean (or associate/assistant dean) or residency/fellowship director (or associate/assistant director)
  • Answer an additional question in the award application (question #4)
  • Review and agree to the Sadler Fellowship application requirements and fellowship expectations

All applicants must review the grant terms and guidelines. The proposed project must be started while in medical school or a training program. Preference will be given to applicants who are able to attend CleanMed in person, but we acknowledge the uncertainty of COVID-19 and the potential for travel disruption.

Applications will be evaluated on the applicant’s project proposal and leadership potential along with the overall quality of the application.

This year we are especially interested in project proposals that align with the need for the health care sector to create climate-smart health care through mitigation (reducing health care’s climate footprint), resilience (creating climate-ready, resilient health facilities and communities) and leadership (mobilizing and leveraging health professionals to advance climate solutions).

Please refer to the Global Road Map for Health Care Decarbonization (see page 10 of the Executive Summary – “Seven High Impact Actions” and “Bridging the Health Care Emissions Gap” opportunities) and Climate resilience for health care and communities: Strategies and case studies for inspiration and ideas.

While we recognize the importance of integrating climate-health education into medical school and training program curricula, this year we are not prioritizing curricular or educational project proposals that are primarily about the health impacts of climate change. We will consider curricular and educational project proposals about climate-smart health care (health sector mitigation, resilience, and leadership).