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| Whitney Taylor |
Aya Obara |
Mike Tobias |
Mary Hanley |
Aude Sicsic |
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Whitney Taylor
MPH Candidate, Social & Behavioral Sciences
As a Summer Associate at the Boston Area Health Education Center (BAHEC), I work on the Youth to Health Careers (Y2H) summer enrichment program, which aims to orient underserved teens from the Boston area towards health careers. I assist instructors in their classes, supervise students, design curricula, and deliver a five week substance abuse class for students. |
What are the greatest challenges and successes you’ve had so far?
My greatest challenge has been to find time to revise and design curriculum for the various classes, while supervising the students. My greatest success has been observing the students’ drive and interest for learning, and how much they’re getting out of it. The student dental interns are now teaching their peers about the importance of oral health! We also ran a successful health career expo for students to meet with health professionals.
In what ways do you think your practicum will inform the next steps in your public health career?
Academic Career
Academically, this internship makes me want to learn more about substance abuse since I am currently teaching about it.
Professional Career
Professionally, I am particularly interested in health education geared toward teens, and this internship reinforces my desire to either go back into the public schools or work for a wellness or outreach program.
What tips can you offer to practicum students in terms of setting the stage for a successful practicum?
Take the time to find a practicum that you believe will suit your interests. It’s the best way to see if it’s actually something you would like to pursue academically and professionally.
How did you find your practicum placement?
My supervisor spoke to my Teaching Public Health class this past semester about BAHEC. I contacted him after, and pursued the internship until I was offered a position.
What skills have you been able to put to use?
I have previous experience teaching adolescents and designing curriculum, so I have been able to contribute those skills.
What experience have you been able to gain?
I’ve learned a great deal about managing, designing, and running a public health program. I chose this internship because I wanted to see how a teen health education program could be run, and have witnessed how much planning it takes to successfully execute one.
What have you found to be helpful in terms of making the most of your practicum experience?
Check in with your advisor frequently and develop relationships with other staff members. |
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Aya Obara
MPH Candidate, Environmental health
As a an intern with East Middlesex Mosquito Control Program (EMMCP), I’m working with three municipalities to monitor the growth of mosquito larvae in above ground storm water collection structures. The outcomes will be presented to local conservation administrators, and will indicate whether more rigorous regulation of these structures is needed to prevent the development of vectors of diseases such as Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile Virus. |
What are the greatest challenges and successes you’ve had so far?
Weather for both! We have had a steady amount of rain this summer, which is the primary factor driving this project. However, when it doesn't rain, it adversely affects our timeline for completing this project.
What skills have you been able to apply?
Project coordination, goal-setting, time management, reporting and maintaining accurate records, some previous knowledge of water resource management and urban environmental health.
What experience have you been able to gain?
Mosquito biology knowledge, field collection and analytic methods for mosquito control, inspecting efficacy details of water collection/drainage structures.
I'm enjoying the self-direction I have in this project, as my EMMCP supervisors have been very responsive and extremely knowledgeable and helpful in guiding my progress so we can attain a meaningful final report.
What have you found to be helpful in terms of making the most of your practicum experience?
Being a self-starter and being mindful of time have been the most integral lessons in my experience. From finding this project to openly communicating with EMMCP about my own interests to being flexible about weather-permitting situations have been key.
What tips can you offer to practicum students regarding the practicum?
Talk with your professors about your interests in public health and they may be the gateway in finding your ideal practicum project.
How did you find your practicum placement?
From my well-connected and wonderfully attentive academic adviser, professor, and mentor.
Has your practicum met your expectations? Do you think your practicum will inform the next steps in your public health career?
The ability to combine my interests and background in biology, public health, and environmental/water management all in one project has been great. This practicum has increased my interest in pursuing further studies in biology, public health entomology, and water resource management within the realm of environmental health.
My involvement with this project is comforting proof that meaningful public health-related work exists while being outdoors. I will be searching for similar field work-based full-time experiences after I graduate in the fall. I also want to incorporate more time directly with the community and/or pursuing outreach, in my professional career.
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Mike Tobias
MPH Candidate, Biostatistics
As an intern with the Center for Global Health and Development, I’m working at the ZAmCat project. It is a clinical trial comparing mortality rates in infants where chlorhexidine has been applied to the umbilical stump versus the standard practice of keeping the stump dry. The trial will involve about 43,000 women all over the Southern Province of Zambia.
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What are the greatest challenges and successes you’ve had so far?
So far, the biggest challenge has been trying to contribute to making the process of handling thousands of paper forms more efficient. The trial is still in its early stages, so any contribution now will hopefully have an ongoing effect.
What skills have you been able to put to use?
I have been building Access databases for many years.
What experience have you been able to gain?
On the technical side, I am becoming familiar with the TeleForm system. In addition, I get to see and take part in a large clinical trial in process. The number of issues that need to be worked out on an ongoing basis is staggering. As I had begun to learn in a previous (much smaller) trial, real life is much messier and more challenging than a classroom discussion will ever reveal.
What have you found to be helpful in terms of making the most of your practicum experience?
Dive in head first.
What tips can you offer to practicum students in terms of setting the stage for a successful practicum?
If you are passionate about something, find a practicum that gives you real life experience in that area.
How did you find your practicum placement?
I was walking down the hall in the Crosstown building to turn in a SAS homework assignment, and saw a sign that said "Get paid to go to Africa." I did remember later to turn in my homework.
In what ways do you think your practicum will inform the next steps in your public health career?
Academic Career
At BUSPH my concentration is Biostatistics. Perhaps I will be inspired to add more of an international health flavor to the courses I take.
Professional Career
My greatest wish is that this will help me find a way to combine my technical skills and training with a desire to travel and be useful to people in far-off lands. I spent more than 2 years in Addis Ababa many years ago. Ever since, I have wanted to return to Africa. I have not been disappointed. Times have changed, and Zambia is not Ethiopia. But there is something different about Africa that suits me very well - that is still true.
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Mary Hanley
MPH Candidate, International Health
As a summer intern I assist the Principal Investigator in evaluating the Women of Means health-care delivery model, which provides free health care to homeless women in Boston's shelters.
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What are the greatest challenges and successes you’ve had so far?
The greatest challenge so far has been finalizing the questionnaire so that all areas are covered and at the same time ensuring that no question is useless or repetitive. The greatest success was completing and analyzing focus group discussions for relevant themes to inform the questionnaire development.
What have you found to be helpful in making the most of your practicum?
Taking the time to get to know the people you are trying to help. Without understanding where they have been and what they need, then you are really not helping them but telling them what you think would help.
What skills have you been able to put to use?
My Monitoring& Evaluation and Applied Research Methods classes gave me the experience to create focus group discussion guides and questionnaires for meaningful qualitative and quantitative analysis.
What experience have you been able to gain?
This has been a great opportunity to learn how a small NGO in the Boston community can make a big impact on peoples' lives. I have learned a lot not just about program evaluation, but also about the challenges of working with the homeless population and their complex needs.
What tips can you offer to practicum students in terms of setting the stage for a successful practicum?
Be upfront at the beginning of the practicum about what they want you to do and what you can offer. Also, look for practicums throughout the semester- you may find that you have the time to start a practicum in the middle of a semester.
How did you find your practicum placement?
BUSPH Practicum website. I was clicking through in the middle of the semester and found something that really interested me, and started a few weeks later.
Has your practicum met your expectations? In what ways do you think your practicum will inform the next steps in your public health career?
It has exceeded my expectations by providing not only educational experience, but real-life experience as well. It has really opened my eyes to the homeless situation in Boston.
I am just 8 credits away from graduating from BUSPH, but I know my practicum has helped transform what I learned in the classroom into real-life experience.
While I previously thought I would like to work abroad, I have instead switched my focus to wanting to help urban populations here 'at home' in the US. I think that what I learned in IH is relevant to helping the homeless because IH focuses on low-resource, vulnerable, and dynamic populations- and the homeless population in Boston certainly fits as well.
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Aude Sicsic
MPH Candidate, Biostatistics
As a Prometrika intern, I perform the tasks of a biostatistician in a contract research organization: writing a statistical analysis plan, performing a literature search, reviewing data validation guidelines and data management plans, and writing analysis file specs.
My practicum project consists of writing a 'mock' protocol for a drug of my choosing. |
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What are the greatest challenges and successes you’ve had so far?
The greatest challenge so far has been to make the connection in a specific trial between what should have been measured (according to the schedule of events) and what was actually measured.
The greatest success so far has been to perform literature research; starting with a couple thousand articles and narrowing it down to those that fit our specific criteria.
What skills have you been able to put to use?
The use of SAS (which is a requirement in this industry), and past experience in data management that enabled me to review data management work.
What experience have you been able to gain?
An understanding of the work performed by a biostatistician in the clinical trial world, how to write a statistical analysis plan, and interacting with employees with different specializations (programmers, data managers).
What have you found to be helpful in terms of making the most of your practicum experience?
My contact with the BUSPH Practice Office. Also, sitting down with my field supervisor and writing the learning contract and later the midpoint review. This enabled me to check that I was going in the right direction and summarize all of the projects I was involved with.
What tips can you offer to practicum students regarding the practicum?
Know your goals. Where do you want to do a practicum? What do you want to learn? I would also recommend asking other students about their practicum experiences.
How did you find your practicum placement?
The Practice Office. After meeting with the staff and explaining where I would like to do a practicum, I left the office with a list of contacts at organizations that I was interested in, including Prometrika.
Has your practicum met your expectations? Do you think your practicum will inform the next steps in your public health career?
Yes. When I started the practicum I wanted to gain a broader understanding of how a contract research organization worked, and what tasks a biostatistician performed on a daily basis. I have been able to perform some of these tasks, and to work with biostatisticians on real problems.
During this practicum I gained a better understanding of the clinical trial world and of the FDA guidelines. Moreover, I have been able to make the connection between what we learn in our biostatistics class and what we are asked to do in the field.
This practicum has enabled me to gain experience as a biostatistician, and to learn how to write statistical documents that are part of the biostatistician job description. I also learned how to use SAS in real life cases.
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