Practicum Experience with the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab, UNC

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Learning about having to do a practicum to satisfy MPH requirements here at Gillings during the application process got me excited because I thought it was a great way to ease us into public health practice. Little did I know that finding a practicum could qualify as a full-time job! It was definitely an eye opener for what is to come post-graduation. In retrospection, I think the timing was perfect because this was a great way for us to survey the market to see the most desired skills, come back to school afterwards and choose electives that will make us more marketable post-graduation.

I was very picky in the kinds of practicums I applied to because I wanted it to be meaningful to my chosen career trajectory. I nearly got swayed by some of the salaries advertised, but I’m glad they didn’t work out. Considering the series of events that occurred, it was almost as if an unseen hand was directing me right to this moment throughout the process. I think I ended up at the best possible place for me since it closely aligns with my research experience and interests.

 

The Organization:

IDEEL is a cross institutional collaboration of investigators with diverse backgrounds whose work focuses on infectious diseases around the world. Majority of their work is on malaria, delving into transmission dynamics, drug resistance patterns, diagnostic assays and tracking useful biomolecular markers to inform policies surrounding malaria control. I have already learnt a great deal so far from just joining their meetings and learning about their past work.

Having spent just over a week in the organization, I feel very welcome as all the members have been very nice and accommodating so far. The PIs in the organization, despite their busy schedules, have each made the time to connect and get to know me, creating a very inclusive environment that fosters learning and growth. My highlight so far was a potluck event organized at Jordan lake where I got to meet, socialize with and bond over food and games with members of the organization and their families.

 

Practicum Description:

Malaria is a very important cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. According to the WHO, 95% of the 627,000 deaths caused by malaria globally in 2020 occurred in Africa. Given its deleterious effects on pregnant women and their unborn children, the WHO and its collaborators have come up with great strategies to prevent malaria acquisition in this population, primarily based on preventive treatment.

This practicum involves quantitative analysis on data generated from pregnant women receiving preventive antimalarial therapy to ascertain if said treatment is causing antibiotic resistance in certain strains of bacteria residing in their guts. Applying skills learned in my first year of MPH and previous work experience, together with newly acquired coding skills to be able to do the required analysis has been nothing short of exciting.

 

Expectations:

I look forward to understanding how research data is transformed into policies that guide medical practice. I hope to acquire new data analysis and bioinformatics skills relevant to the field, and to expand my network given my interest in infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

-Kofi O.

WASH and Environmental Conditions in Health Care Facilities

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Hello! My name is Anushka Banerjee, and I am an MPH candidate in the Global Health concentration at the UNC Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. Some of my public health interests include water and sanitation hygiene (WASH), emergency and disaster preparedness and response, and community health access and equity. This summer, I am completing my practicum with the UNC Water Institute, and participating in a project that analyzes WASH and environmental conditions in health care facilities globally. The goal of the project is to use the information to curate and support development of training and capacity building to improve WASH services in these health care facilities (HCF). I am working with a few other MPH students at UNC, and so far it has been a pleasure to meet and work with them!

While our practicum started a few weeks ago, we have been diving headfirst into preliminary tasking. We have been reading through several reports from the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), including information about WASH FIT. Many healthcare facilities across the world lack the resources and tools, mechanisms, and personnel to reinforce proper WASH, which compromises the ability of such HCFs to deliver equitable, safe, and quality care to community members. Lack of WASH can also negatively impact infection prevention and control (IPC), which can cause a loss of IPC and lead to detrimental short-and-long term health outcomes. WASH FIT is a management tool and guide for HCFs and is used as a framework to develop, monitor, and implement improvement plans for key aspects of WASH services. These key aspects include water, sanitation, hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, health care waste management, and parts of energy/building/facility management.

Caption: An overview of the WASH FIT cycle, along with anticipated outcomes and impacts. (WHO, 2022)

WASH FIT collaborates with political, financial, human, civil society, and energy/climate/health resources to create a team, assess HCF facilities, identify areas for improvement, develop a plan and act, and monitor, review, adapt, and improve the plan. The goal of these plans guided by WASH FIT are to improve infrastructure, services, and facility management. This includes improved IPC, less environmental pollution, and a more efficient use of resources across the HCF.

As we move forward with the practicum, we will be conducting systematic reviews, interviews with health care facility personnel, and doing an analysis of the findings from both. Using this, we will develop our deliverables for the practicum, and have a more holistic view of the status of WASH in global health care facilities. The first few weeks of this practicum have excited me for what is to come, and I can’t wait to share next time!

– Anushka

Chronicles of my Ipas Practicum: Exploring Program Evidence & Climate Resilience

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Hello! I am excited to share with you the details of my summer practicum with Ipas. I started as Program Evidence Intern on May 15, so this is my first blog of the summer. I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences as I blog over the course of my practicum!

Selection Process: I was fortunate enough to be offered this internship with an organization I have long admired. To form connections at Ipas, I reached out to my now preceptor, Sally, during the Fall 2022 semester for an informational interview. During that conversation, Sally recommended I enroll in qualitative analysis coursework and informed me she would soon be looking for a summer intern. I highly recommend networking to my peers and incoming MPH candidates because it is the reason I landed this position, among others. As promised, Sally shared the internship application as soon as it was finalized. Soon after, I interviewed and was offered the position. Networking not only allowed me to make this connection that led me to acquiring my practicum, but also guided me to take a class on qualitative methods, which was highly marketable during my interview.

Company & Role: Ipas is a global organization that works across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to improve access to make safe abortion and contraception widely available, to connect people with vital information so they can access safe services, and to advocate for safe, legal abortion. By building resilient abortion and contraceptive ecosystems using a comprehensive approach across sectors, institutions, and communities, Ipas believes in a world where all people have the right and ability to determine their own sexuality and reproductive health. At Ipas, I work within the Technical Excellence department on the Program Evidence team, which is responsible for strategic guidance and decision-making to ensure evidence-based programming and continual learning. Including myself and my two preceptors, Sally and Val, there are nine people on this team. My role on this team is to partake in the qualitative analysis and dissemination of the project, “Assessing the resilience of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, communities, & individuals to climate change in Samburu County, Kenya.” This study measures climate resilience of the health system and communities impacted by climate crises.

Skill Development: Thus far, the majority of my time has been spent completing new hire trainings assigned by Human Resources and my preceptors to familiarize myself with Ipas and my role within the organization, respectively. This week, I will begin reviewing the study transcripts and summarizing the prevalent themes. By the end of this internship, I expect to further refine my skills in qualitative analysis and communication.

Networking & Professional Growth: There are a variety of individuals I will collaborate with in this role: my preceptors, the remainder of the Program Evidence team, the other Technical Excellence leads, and the other project staff based in Kenya. Outside of my team, I intend to network with other Ipas employees to grow my understanding of the opportunities and work being done at Ipas. As it so happens, Ipas is celebrating 50 years this year and a gala will take place on June 6, which I plan to attend in order to foster these connections. As the organization functions fully remotely, I am excited to meet my coworkers in person.

I cannot wait to share more with you at the end of my practicum experience! It has been a welcoming experience thus far, so I am optimistic and eager to see what there is in store for me.

– Caroline