Practicum Wrap-up and Takeaways

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Lara
Lara

Hi everyone! The time has come to wrap up my summer practicum at EngenderHealth. This summer has flown by, but I know that what I will take away from this experience is something that I will cherish for a very long time. This summer I worked on a data analysis and draft manuscript for a project that EngenderHealth’s team is implementing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The team ran a baseline survey to understand perceptions of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) among adolescents and I worked with the team in Ethiopia to summarize the data into the manuscript. The last few weeks have been spent finalizing the data tables and manuscript draft so that it can move into the publication stage and hopefully be published in a few months. The hope is that this manuscript will inform policies which will seek to further establish systems of support and reporting for SGBV.

My practicum experience has reinforced the importance of understanding data context and leading with curiosity. I have also learned a great deal about data communication and presentation and I will carry these lessons into the 2nd year of my MPH and whatever comes after. I want to thank my preceptor, Kate, for her time and dedication to teaching me. It was an invaluable experience to learn from you.

All the best,

-Lara

 

 

Curamericas Global Maternal Projects Grant Writing: Part 2

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Willow
Willow
Willow
Willow

Hello everyone! This is Willow, again. Working with Curamericas Global this summer has been a wonderful learning experience and has better prepared me for identifying funders and proposal writing withing my career. For the last half of our practicum, we were focusing on identifying potential funders for our proposal projects. My proposal project is focused on requesting funding to support and sustain Casas Maternas, or community birthing centers. These Casas Maternas are specifically located in the Western Highlands of Guatemala with intent to improve the maternal mortality rates of indigenous women in the region, where the maternal mortality rate is twice that of non-indigenous and is higher than the national average. These health centers have been built and managed by the community members themselves and their community partner (Curamericas Guatemala). This project has required me to create a full proposal and budget, which has provided me with some of the hands-on proposal experience that we had practiced in our core courses. As a whole, this practicum has taught me a great deal about the review and proposal process, allowing me the ability to go forth with experience translating important materials and creating a proposal and budget. Within these final weeks of practicum, my partner and I are working to polish our proposals for our respective funders and send them out for review!

-Willow

Reflecting on an Amazing Summer in Puerto Rico

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Our first team building event- paddleboarding and kayaking in San Juan!
Our first team building event- paddleboarding and kayaking in San Juan!

I can’t believe that my time with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dengue Branch is already coming to an end. Living in San Juan, Puerto Rico for 6 weeks has been unforgettable, and I will really miss the people, the beaches, and the food! I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn from such passionate and dedicated individuals working at the forefront of public health, and for their eagerness to mentor me and allow me to take the lead on projects. I also spent a lot of time working with the CDC’s local partner organizations, the Communities Organized for the Prevention of Arboviruses (COPA) and the Puerto Rico Vector Control Unit (PRVCU), and I’m so thankful for their willingness to include me in their projects and help navigate the challenges of language barriers and study logistics!

This was my first time working with mosquito-borne diseases, so I’ve learned a lot in just a short time. One of my favorite activities was assisting COPA with yard inspections, where we looked for mosquito breeding sites in different water vessels such as plant saucers and bromeliads. I learned about the life cycle of the mosquito in detail, and the most common practices used to control adults and larvae. During the last few weeks of my practicum, I was in Caguas assisting the PRVCU with the start of their dengue serosurvey. This involved going door-to-door recruiting participants by explaining the project, passing out flyers, scheduling appointments, and recording household information in Survey123. I also assisted the community engagement leaders and phlebotomists during the appointments with dengue test set-up, blood collection, and recording participant information. I have learned a lot about the logistics required to successfully complete a serosurvey as well as some of the unanticipated challenges and how to navigate them.

This summer practicum experience has allowed me to build upon my skills and broaden my knowledge of arboviruses, as well as continue to grow as a public health professional. I look forward to working with the CDC and their partners remotely for the next few months as I wrap up a manuscript on outbreak vector control strategies and continue working on my master’s paper.

-Stephanie