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Global Health Students Present “What I Did on My Summer Vacation”
For many students, summer is a time of relaxation and fun in the sun. For second-year Global Health Division (GHD) students, it is a time to travel within and outside of the United States to complete their student internships. In a two-part series held on September 14 and 21, GHD students gave an overview of what their internship experience was, where they were located, takeaway points, and their personal reflections. In talks highlighting work with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Venice to an internship with the Berkley Media Studies Group in San Francisco, students were able to express what they liked about their internships, and explored the differences between working in the public sector versus the private sector. Some found that they were able build upon the skills they already had, and some completed an internship in which they learned their focus had shifted from one area of public health to another. Presentations allowed first-year GHD students the opportunity to ask questions about the internship experience. Some students learned first-hand how bureaucracy can slow down work that needs to be accomplished and some became disillusioned with an organization they once held in high regard. Nora Groce, Ph.D., associate professor in GHD, stated that this is one of the reasons why completing an internship is so important. “You learn about how organizations run,” she said. “When they run dysfunctional, sometimes you learn more then if they run smoothly.” Some organizations had never had an intern before and some were short-staffed which allowed the intern great educational opportunities. Sideeka Narayan interned with the United Nations Health Action in Crisis (UN HAC) in Geneva, the “humanitarian arm of WHO”. Ms. Narayan stated that she had a lot of work to do since the department was cut back. She developed presentations, went to world health assemblies, and met Ministers of Health. She spoke of the experience being in the Shock Room during the Lebanon Crisis and interning through two major earthquakes in Indonesia. Ms. Narayan had a positive relationship with her supervisors and had exceptional networking opportunities. Other then the knowledge she gained from her internship, Ms. Narayan remarked that Geneva is a wonderful place to be because there are so many interns there and it was “Just like [the School of Public Health], but on a bigger scale.” Sara Shamos completed two internships. One was completed at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), Bangkok and the other at Denver Public Health. At the ADPC, Ms. Shamos worked on a zoonotic disease initiative and then revised modules for the Public Health Emergency Management in Asia-Pacific. At Denver Public Health, she worked on a number of sexually transmitted diseases research projects which she saw at various stages of completion. Of her internships she says that she was able to network, taking away numerous contacts and is now excited about publishing, an opportunity that she had not anticipated. Internships completed by Global Health students this summer are below: Tajan Braithwaite, “Repeat Pregnancies in HIV-infected Women in Greater Kingson, Jamaica,” at the University of West Indies Eva Chang, designed and conducted a pilot study on condom usage and knowledge in women in a rural suburb outside of Wuhan, China Alina Engelman, “HIV/AIDS Voluntary Testing and Counseling for the Deaf,” in Nairobi, Kenya Colin Gershon, “Planned Parenthood,” in Johannesburg, South Africa Allison Hornstein, developed and planned a formal Health Care professional communication plan for roll out of the Unilever Nutrition Enhancement Program, in Englewood, New Jersey Katherine Johnson, worked on UNICEF project on Complementary Feeding in New York City. Nadine Kronfli, “Rapid Assessment of Maternal Care Coverage and Readiness for PMTCT Scale-Up in Latin America and the Caribbean,” UNICEF – Panama City Hannah Kurtis, “Flu Risk Online Training Tool on Risk Communication in Preparation for a Possible Avian Flu Epidemic and Pandemic Influenza in the Americas,” PAHO Sonia Lee completed her internship at the UNAIDS office in Swaziland under the Country Coordinator Adrienne Meija worked for WHO doing communications and external relations Sideeka Narayan, UN HAC, Geneva Josh Pashman, Project Manager of the Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative (EHMI), Yale School of Public Health Sara Shamos, ADPC Bangkok and Denver Public Health Dechen Wangmo, Women’s Department in Belize working on the HIV/AIDS program and then worked with WHO-Bhutan working on multiple projects implemented through the Ministry of Health. Kazim Zaidi, “Economic and Financial Analysis using MDGs in Central Europe,” WHO-Venice -Story by Marcie Foley |
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