Student internships
December 2, 2013
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.
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).
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.”
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.
Elizabeth Chen
Health behavior master’s student
Chen 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.
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.
Carolina Public Health is a publication of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health. To view previous issues, please visit sph.unc.edu/cph.