Each summer, our students seek internships and field practica that take them to communities across North Carolina. They provide public health services, conduct research and educate people about public health issues. In return, they receive training, practical experience and a wider appreciation for the people, places and public health challenges in North Carolina.
Enjoy these snapshots! They describe only a few of our students’ North Carolina projects.
-Compiled by David Pesci

Phil Hansen
health behavior master’s student
Hansen did research and disseminated health information in beauty and barber shops, introducing underserved communities to information about cancer screening and other health issues. He and others traveled to numerous beauty shops in the state, including Donna’s Hair Salon, in Sanford, N.C., to conduct fall-prevention workshops. He interviewed women about lifestyle habits, checking blood pressure and testing strength and balance, “I learned a lot today,” one of Donna’s customers said. “I appreciate that you came and gave us this free health information.”

Gabriela Arandia
health behavior doctoral student
Leslie Derosset
maternal and child health doctoral student
Arandia and deRosset studied the effectiveness of
educational outreach to immigrants about the Affordable
Care Act. Team members conducted interviews with
government officials, health and human service providers,
community leaders and immigrants. They learned what
worried people about the law and examined strategies that
might make enrolling for coverage easier. A report on their
findings will be available in 2014 on the Carolina Population
Center’s website (www.unc.edu/cpc).

Kate Abel
nutrition master’s student
Kelly Bellamy
nutrition master’s student
Abel and Bellamy conducted a program in Garner, N.C., that
taught low-income residents how to grow their own food
and cook it. These “Garden to Table” programs have been
extremely popular and successful statewide.

Ama Achampong
health policy and management master’s student
Achampong spent her summer at the Veterans Affairs Medical
Center in Fayetteville, N.C. She developed a comprehensive
tool to track nursing performance measures, such as patient
falls, pressure ulcers and restraint utilization; assessed quality
and process improvement projects for inpatient mental health
services; and worked with the hospital’s associate director to
analyze the staffing model of a specialty service.

Robert Coble
health policy and management master’s student
Coble focused on the expansion of the Women’s Services
department at Novant Health Medical Center in Matthews,
N.C. Two of his tasks were to identify optimal operational
design for patient flow and room assignment in the medical
center and coordinate a parking plan for increased volume
due to expanded women’s services and an additional floor
being added to the center.

Anthony Nwosu
health policy and management master’s student
Nwosu worked with the Carolina Population Center’s MEASURE
Evaluation program to update health indices information for about
40 countries. He learned the importance of monitoring, evaluation
and use of data and examined what governments are doing to
curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS, reduce stigmatization and institute
preventive measures, preparation that will serve him well in a
global health career. This information could be used in N.C.

Megan Squires
maternal and child health master’s student
Squires interned at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of
Central North Carolina in Raleigh, but her efforts benefited
all of North Carolina. She used Stata, a software program,
to analyze patient satisfaction surveys, coordinating with
program partners, including Blueprint and America Votes, to
raise awareness about various women’s health issues. She also
worked on a program to include more men in maternal and
child health efforts statewide.

Elizabeth Chen
health behavior master’s student
Chen (in black) partnered with a colleague at another
school to develop “MyHealthEd,” an online, tailored sex
education curriculum that increases sexual health knowledge
and decreases risky sexual behaviors among middle- and
high-school students in rural North Carolina. She also will
introduce the program as a pilot during spring 2014 at Teach
For America’s partner high schools in eastern North Carolina.

 

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