Hart, new Burch Fellow, to partner with traditional healers in Tarapoto, Peru
April 22, 2016
For Sarah Hart, it was a confluence of luck and good planning that resulted in her pending trip to Peru. Last December, she saw a posting about an internship working with traditional medicine and community health in the Amazon. For Hart, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in heath policy and management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and studies Spanish as a minor, this was a perfect opportunity.
Sarah Hart
It wasn’t until she scheduled a meeting at UNC’s Global Education Center, however, that she learned about the Honors Carolina Burch Fellowship.
“The Burch values aligned with what I wanted to accomplish in Peru,” says Hart. “This fellowship is awesome because it really is in your hands to prove that you are passionate, dedicated and have a plan. As an out-of-state student, I find that this type of opportunity is often limited to North Carolina residents, but the Burch Fellowship was open to me.”
Hart, who is from Randolph, New Jersey, was accepted for both the internship and the fellowship. She will join the Runa Foundation in Tarapoto, Peru, for the summer of 2016. Her work will take place in conjunction with that of Rios Nete, an organization that plans to open a local health clinic and research center to study traditional plant-based medicines and their interplay with western medicines.
In partnership with traditional healers, local healthcare providers and community members, Hart will conduct a community health assessment to study health risk factors, outcomes and treatment-seeking behaviors among the local population.
“I’m excited to get out of my comfort zone and do actual global health work,” Hart shares. “I will get to apply what I’ve learned in the classroom in a way that will be useful and productive. I’m also very excited to visit the Amazon and to practice my Spanish. ”
Hart says that Cathy Padgett, career services coordinator, Becky Slifkin, PhD, clinical associate professor, and Morris Weinberger, PhD, distinguished professor, all in the Department of Health Policy and Management, have been instrumental in her development as a future global health professional. After graduation in 2017, she plans to work and gain experience before applying to graduate school.
“I hope this trip provides me with an opportunity to learn how to present myself as a professional researcher,” she adds. “I have limited work experience in the area of public health, so in Peru I will be constantly learning about global health, how to work in this field and how I fill this role.”
Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu
