Author: nayavill

Wrapping Things Up and Reflecting

Posted on by nayavill

My summer practicum flew by and as we’re all getting ready for in person classes soon, I find myself reflecting on my practicum work. I’m working with the North Carolina Against Sexual Assault (NCCASA) on creating a toolkit on preventing and detecting human trafficking on college and university campuses. While I still have a long way to go in finalizing my writing, converting it to a final toolkit, and presenting to key stakeholders, I feel like I have learned a lot in the anti-human trafficking sector. Working with NCCASA has strengthened my passion for the type of work I want to pursue. It is enraging to see on the news and in personal connections the pervasiveness of sexual violence. Before beginning my practicum, my anger was my motivation to work in the reproductive and sexual health justice field. After meeting with anti-human trafficking specialists, program implementation managers, and my preceptor weekly, I’m inspired by the type of work they do in such a compassionate manner. It is eye opening to experience working with individuals that care so deeply about the communities they work with and the anti-sexual violence movement. I feel hopeful when I see all that NCCASA does, and after reflecting, I realize that hope has been my motivation the last month or so – admittingly, a feeling I haven’t felt in a long time.

I’ve learned a lot about human trafficking in North Carolina and on how to engage universities in creating prevention and response strategies. I was able to assess survivor and student needs and propose strategies and programs for key stakeholders to adopt or adapt for their campus communities. My preceptor and I also highlighted the importance of working with communities who are disproportionately affected.

I only have two more weeks of my practicum left and I still feel like there is a lot to do in a short amount of time. While I work to ensure my deliverables are complete in a comprehensive way, I’ve been taking advantage of working online and have been able to travel safely. I visited my friend in New York City for a couple of weeks and we then took some time to wind down and work from home in upstate New York on a beautiful farm. While I miss working in person, I’m glad that I was able to travel around and visit good friends this summer.

Drinking our morning coffee on the porch at the farm.
Overlooking Manhattan from Williamsburg!

Reading through my peers’ blogs, I feel proud and impressed! I am excited to get back into the groove in person this time and hear about everyone’s experiences this summer. Here’s to meeting everyone face to face soon!

-Hadas

Gratitude and Hope

Posted on by nayavill

As my practicum comes to an end and I reflect on the past three months, I am filled with so much gratitude. My practicum was not entirely what I expected but nonetheless, it was an experience that helped me grow as a public health professional and gave me insight into the field of global health in action. At the beginning of my practicum, I encountered some unforeseen challenges that stemmed from my lack of self-confidence. When given assignments and tasks with minimal instruction, I immediately thought, “How am I going to do this? Am I prepared for this?” I was terrified of doing a bad job and potentially letting someone down. In essence, I was doubting myself and my abilities. As I threw myself into my work, I quickly learned an important lesson: although I may not have all the answers, I have the skills to do this work. I had to remind myself that after a year of training through the MPH program, I have been equipped with a toolset of basic skills to get started with any task given to me. This realization gave me a life raft to keep me afloat through all the hard tasks and moments of doubt. Now, three months later, I am proud of the work I’ve done and have grown both personally and professionally through this experience.

A back porch bonfire with my roommates—a frequent tradition

Outside of my practicum work, life has been at a steady pace with many fun and memorable moments. Truly, the small things in life, such as back porch bonfires and long walks after work, are the sweetest! My favorite parts of the summer have been filled with self-care and time with friends and family. I am so thankful for the summer of 2021. Life is slowly becoming “normal” again and I am hopeful for a fun, fruitful school year to come!

-Paulina

Practicum Reflections in Preparation for the Start of Year 2

Posted on by nayavill

It seems crazy to think that we are all signed up for courses and getting ready for the second year to start. My practicum flew by and I am excited to have the opportunity to stay involved with the work as we start next semester. I am working with Kybele on a project called MEBCI 2.0 (Making Every Baby Count Initiative) which aims to improve quality of newborn care by using quality improvement, systems thinking/strengthening, and leadership trainings. Check out this paper to learn more about the first iteration of MEBCI! For my deliverables I am creating PowerPoint presentations and training manuals for (1) Models for Improvement and (2) PDSA (plan, do, study, act) for clinical providers in Ghana.

We were told from the start of practicum searching that there is no such thing as a “perfect practicum,” so I definitely feel like I lucked out. My work with Kybele, using quality improvement (QI) and systems thinking to improve neonatal and maternal outcomes, is exactly what I want to do in the future and gave me irreplaceable insights on the field. The best thing that came out of the practicum was being able to see the program design process from early on, from brainstorming competencies and training topics to drafting training materials. I’ll be working over the next few weeks to finalize these materials. Throughout, I have used materials from the Ghana Health Service and the National Healthcare Quality Strategy along with information from our project partners, mostly the American Academy of Pediatrics, in order to make sure that our trainings are the most relevant, usable, and built upon previous training experiences opposed to being redundant. I also spent a lot of time making sure that language was appropriate and consistent with materials that were already in circulation throughout the tertiary hospitals that Kybele is working within.

Although I was a little intimidated at the start of the practicum and felt like there was so much literature I needed to read in order to get myself speaking the same language as the team, I learn best by actively doing things and am grateful that the team allowed me to jump right into this project, consistently providing me with critical feedback along the way. It was also great to meet the team that I have been working with (in person!) before the practicum officially began and to have another Global Health student, Erin, working on the same MEBCI project. I’m excited to start next semester with this new perspective on program design and material development and look forward to continuing to work on similar projects in the Fall!

the best thing about practicums being remote? Getting to check off some major bucket list hikes/climbs, this is peak three of Olomana in Oahu!
The best thing about practicums being remote? Getting to check off some major bucket list hikes/climbs, this is peak three of Olomana in Oahu!

Hope everyone has a good rest of the summer!

– Sydney