nayavill – Page 28 – Gillings Around the globe

Different Set of Skills

Posted on June 16, 2020 by nayavill

When I connected with my practicum preceptor in December, I was elated to have found an opportunity to gain field experience in the field of infectious disease prevention. Naya had set me up with a meeting with Dr. Ross Boyce, a researcher and infectious disease physician here at UNC-Chapel Hill. I would have had the opportunity to travel to Uganda to meet his collaborators in Bugoye and conduct my own research project on the ground. As I began preliminary research for the project, I was reminded of my passion for treating infectious disease spread through basic medical support and low-tech solutions such as bed nets.

When the global COVID tides began turning in February, we were able to have a discussion about what to do in case of restricted travel. I was lucky enough to be able to easily transition to a backup plan working with a different data set collected by the Bugoye team. My project is now working with data from a household survey investigating bed net use by children and their malaria status from over 2000 households in 36 villages across 6 parishes. So far, I have conducted an informal literature review to bring me up to speed on bed net use in Sub-Saharan Africa and have begun the basics of working with the data. I will soon be beginning work with Dr. Boyce’s colleagues in Health Geography who will aid me in developing a statistical analysis that incorporates proximity to health centers and map-making using GIS.

I am very disappointed that I am unable to travel to Bugoye myself. I was drawn to UNC largely because of the opportunity to pursue a hands-on practicum where I got to meet and work with public health researchers from different countries. However, work from home has forced me to learn an entirely different set of skills than I would not have learned spending the summer on field work. Working from home has forced me to teach myself all sorts of data handling skills that are all the more useful because I had to learn them on my own. I am also looking forward to working with researchers in geography and exploring geography as a public health tool.

In the meantime, my roommate and I have been quarantining in our home in Carrboro. We’ve been taking turns making meals and I have taken the time to practice baking. (I’m 100% that annoying friend who got way too into making sourdough.) My favorite thing I’ve made so far might be sourdough crêpes, which was a great way to use discard from the starter. Other quarantine hobbies have been biking, birdwatching, and growing tomatoes and herbs on my deck. (Seriously though, reach out if you’re into birds). I’ve also been able to explore the Carolina North Forest. It has been a great opportunity to get to know my immediate community better without the pressures of the semester timetable.

Rachel and Hannah from Global Health checking in families receiving free food at PORCH.

The highlight of my week is volunteering with the food relief organization PORCH Chapel Hill distributing food to nearly 500 Orange county families every Wednesday morning. I’ve even got a number of other Global Health classmates to join me. As the weather has gotten hotter it’s been even more difficult to wear a mask, but I hope we can all stay committed to preventing the spread of COVID even as states try to open up prematurely.

Filling up food boxes at PORCH at the Chapel Hill Public Library.

Stay Safe,

Claire

Global Research From A Local Office

Posted on June 15, 2020 by nayavill

The time of Covid-19 has brought unprecedented challenges to all aspects of life. Coming to Gillings and being in the global health concentration, I knew from the start that I wanted to go abroad for my practicum. To me, it was meant to be a learning experience in research in another culture and how public health campaigns are approached across the world. With the travel restrictions brought on by the global pandemic, going abroad was no longer an option but as disappointing as that was initially, my practicum has brought me the experience I had once hoped to get.

My work for the summer is focusing on HIV partner testing in Zambia. The study I am a part of is researching methods of partner testing in order to encourage male partners to get tested for HIV with the long term impact of reducing HIV prevalence and improving treatment. As the nature of my work is mainly qualitative, I am learning not only about the HIV partner testing method but about the cultural background, challenges, attitudes, beliefs, and approaches to HIV testing and care for people in Zambia. In addition, I am strengthening my skills with Nvivo, a software for coding data- a definite benefit for future jobs and research prospects.

Like any good learning experience, the practicum so far has not been without its tough moments. Zambia is six hours ahead of North Carolina, allowing for a narrow window in the morning for me to conference with my team. Unfortunately, it usually means either some team members have to stay later in the office or I have to wake up much earlier. Luckily, I work with a wonderful team and the coordination of schedules never feels burdening. With regards to reading transcripts, I went through moments of ‘culture shock’. The approach of HIV care with respect to social structure and norms is quite different there, with aspects I’ve never seen in both the US and India. My first reaction was automatically to question “How is that even acceptable?”, but with the firm reminder for myself in concepts of cultural humility and global practice, I have really taken it as a learning experience and I am continuing to enrich myself through this practicum.

Overall, the practicum so far has been amazing and I feel lucky to have been trusted for taking on this role. I look forward to working with my team and learning more!

Aditi

Thoughts About WFH (Work From Home) Colleagues

Posted on June 12, 2020 by nayavill

This summer I am interning at Curamericas assisting with the design of a program questionnaire and baseline evaluation, the results of which will help guide the direction of a Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health program to be implemented in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. So far, I have focused on developing an evidence-based list of indicators for the participant questionnaire.

As was most of my classmates, I was devastated to learn that I would be working from my couch all summer; the same couch on which I stayed up way too late tweaking my 713 poster last December, the same couch on which I pretended to re-watch Biostatistics lectures in preparation for an exam when most of my attention was actually going toward an old episode of Brooklyn 99 that I “had on in the background”. As sad I was that I would continue to sit on this same couch for the summer (sure, I have a desk, but find me a desk chair that is as comfy as a couch!), there is something to be said for the Work From Home (WFH) colleagues that you would not otherwise have the privilege to hang out with…All. Day. Long.

I have a special relationship with my WFH colleague, but we are very different. While I sit all day in front of my laptop researching the state of maternal health in Haiti, he sleeps all day. While I brainstorm the best indicators to measure maternal mortality, he bites and licks his nails. Sometimes, I find it nearly impossible to stay focused when my colleague and I have such disparate styles of working:

I read about how the 2010 earthquake in Haiti halted massive nationwide immunization campaigns in their tracks. My WFH colleague yawns and stretches and yawns and stretches.

I determine whether healthcare facility delivery or the number of antenatal care visits during pregnancy would be a better indicator of neonatal death. My WFH colleague mouth-breathes fish breath directly at my face.

I examine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months as an effort to prevent child malnutrition. My WFH colleague sits beneath me as I eat my work snacks to catch the inevitable crumbs, despite having refused a full bowl of food in the other room!

I encounter Imposter Syndrome and wonder if I have enough knowledge and experience to be in this position. My WFH colleague chews on a stick.

I should focus on the positives too. It is nice to hold myself accountable for taking walks throughout the day – otherwise, my WFH colleague would go stir-crazy. My WFH colleague LOVES to snuggle and I can wholly appreciate this personality trait. While I sometimes get jealous of my WFH colleague’s relaxed (read: lazy) lifestyle, I remain grateful to have this opportunity to impact global maternal and child health while abiding my necessary and sound Coronavirus restrictions. I think I can safely say that as annoying as he can sometimes be, I will be sad to leave my WFH colleague at home once summer is over and we return to a new normal.

Jordan