Hello, my name is Nija Newton, an incoming second-year student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill obtaining a Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in Maternal, Child, and Family Health. This summer my practicum is with The Durham County Department of Public Health (DCoDPH), working with the population health division on the 2023 Community Health Assessment (CHA). This is my second time here at DCoDPH, the first time I interned here was back in 2020 right before COVID-19 was in full affect and I worked on a project for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, informing adolescents on contraception. The purpose of the CHA is to guide decision-making, programs, and policies so that all people of Durham have equitable opportunities for safety and good physical, mental and social health. My job working with the CHA team is to focus on the survey that is going to be distributed to Durham County to collect all the data that is going to be put into the 2023 CHA. I will also be creating a data reference document on Durham County’s health determinants for the health department to use at their leisure to better assist them with easily accessing resources and providing them to the public. Lastly, since a collogue and I are the first group of interns for population health and working on the CHA, I will be creating a training curriculum for future interns. The training will give interns a sense of the internship, what to expect, the expectations, and how to perform effectively. My goals are to gain skills and create lines of connection. It has only been a few weeks and I have fell in love and was welcomed in with open arms. I can’t wait to see what the near future holds during my time here at DCoDPH.
-Nija