Faith Fernandez

During my fellowship, I achieved significant outcomes within the healthcare sector. I contributed to establishing a doula pilot program in response to Medi-Cal's inclusion of doula services as a benefit, leading initiatives including a comprehensive logic model and stakeholder engagement. I analyzed health assessments spanning a decade, translating recommendations into a strategic intervention guide. Addressing diversity, I devised an action plan to increase the retention of male Black physicians and male Hispanic nurses, fostering an inclusive environment. I navigated uncharted policy territory, crafting an inclusive patient-provider policy for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center that harmonizes ethics and legality. Highlights include facilitating unity through a strategic planning workshop for my office, post-merger, and active involvement in the doula implementation project, where my ideas were understood, highly valued, and implemented. Challenges arose while crafting patient-provider preference policies, revealing a gap in addressing such disputes. This experience refined my approach to complex scenarios.

The fellowship honed my communication, collaboration, and project planning skills, preparing me for a future career emphasizing diverse team cooperation. The program's dedication to community needs inspired a desire to work for the County, given the passionate and synergetic environment in the Office of Health Equity and Improvement.

Stanford University