Uncategorized – Page 5 – Gillings Around the globe

On the Flip Side…

Posted on June 23, 2020 by nayavill

Right before spring break, my practicum plans fell through, so I rode the wave of disappointment earlier than everybody else and for reasons unrelated to the virus. With the possibilities for practica suddenly narrowed down, finding a position became a somewhat simpler task.

A forest floor covered in bärlauch, wild garlic that leaves a pungent scent in the air in the summer.

An opportunity matching my interests soon presented itself in the form of a collaborative project between Gillings and Chronic Care International, a non-profit based in Omaha, Nebraska, to assist in designing an evaluation for a diabetes peer support program in the Dominican Republic. I am currently working from home in Basel, Switzerland to develop a literature review describing the evidence base for the program and to compile a list of instruments that have been used to evaluate similar programs in the past. For now, I am mostly working independently, apart from a weekly afternoon meeting with my preceptor, so the time change has had minimal impact on my experience. I am learning to grapple with the unpredictability that seems common in low-resource settings. In the grand scheme of things during these tumultuous times, it is much easier for me to be relaxed when dealing with these manageable ambiguities as they present themselves.

For me, the pandemic has produced some positives. I had assumed that my practicum plans would inevitably conflict with my ability to spend the summer in my hometown with my family, which I try to weave into my summer plans as much as possible. When not working, I spend my time reading, exploring the hills on my bike, playing intense ping pong matches with my mom, taking walks through the forests and fields with my family, catching up with friends from home, and making the most of having an easily accessible piano to play (a true luxury!). I am grateful for the extra time I get to spend here in Basel, a place that I know I will not have the privilege of calling my home forever.

– Marlena

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