INBRE Public Health Internships for Undergraduates

 

Montana INBRE Public Health Internship Program

The purpose of the INBRE Public Health Internship Program is to provide undergraduate students from a wide range of academic disciplines with exposure to existing community health issues, and an understanding of the tools available to investigate and solve these issues.  We hope that by gaining experience with professionals on the “front lines” of community health and health disparities work, students will form a commitment to becoming active citizens and addressing health and wellness issues in their communities.

Montana INBRE is collaborating with area community and public health agencies to offer undergraduate internships focused on public health, health services, and wellness. Past interns have worked with Community Health Partners (CHP) and the Montana Area Health Education Center (AHEC)/Montana Office of Rural Health (MORH). CHP provides health care for low-income and uninsured patients at its clinics in Gallatin and Park Counties, and provides programs in early, adult, and family literacy, as well as training in basic skills and education toward the GED.  MT AHEC and MORH work to address major health issues in rural and underserved communities, facilitate health screenings for children, and coordinate networks of community-based health and wellness groups tackling development and service improvement projects.  Student interns develop a research or project plan with their agency mentors and INBRE coordinators and spend approximately 10 hours per week (for a total of 100 hours per semester) investigating health and wellness issues, providing services to agency clients, and pursuing a focused project associated with their work. Students will have first-hand experience working to address the health needs of rural and underserved populations through the agencies’ collaborative, community-based approach to health care.

 

 

Student Eligibility

Undergraduate students of Montana State University-Bozeman who will be a Sophomore, Junior, or Senior at the time of the internship, and who are enrolled full-time are eligible to apply.  Students must be able to commit 10 hours per week (academic year) to the internship.  Some travel may be required around Gallatin and Park Counties (depending on the intern’s placement).  Students are not required to have a car, but students using their own vehicle will receive a travel allowance for gas/car usage.  The ideal candidate will have basic computer skills (word processing, etc.) and possess good oral and written communication skills.  A GPA of 2.5 or better is preferred.  Student interns will be paid a stipend of up to $1,000 per semester ($10 per hour), plus benefits.

 

 

Student Application Process
Recruitment generally begins in the spring prior to the internship academic year. All Mt INBRE public health internships are currently filled for the 2009-2010 academic year.

 

 

The Student Internship Experience
The main focus of every internship will be a health disparities project. A short list of example projects is included in this Summary, and based on this list, students will be asked to describe the project that best fits their goals/experience.  Final student projects will be determined through a collaborative process among the student, the supervisor(s) at each agency, and the INBRE Intern Coordinator.  Each project will be relevant to the theme of “Health Disparities,” and will seek to provide information on client and/or community health and service delivery that is useful and important to the agencies and the community.  At the end of the internship, students will present the results of their research and internship experience with a short (5-7 page) paper and a presentation to a group of agency and INBRE staff.  Interns will also be asked to present the findings of their project at MSU’s Student Research Celebration during Spring semester.  Students may also have the opportunity to present their work at regional or national conferences.
Example Projects: 

Internship projects with CHP may include:
Housing is Healthcare: This project will involve working within the community health centers in Park and Gallatin Counties and with other community members and organizations to create more affordable housing opportunities for those living at 200% of the federal poverty level and below.  The intern will investigate socioeconomic determinants of health related to housing by reviewing state and local data and/or developing and administering a survey of health center clients.  In addition, the intern will participate and/or facilitate community meetings related to affordable housing and homelessness in Park and Gallatin Counties.
Community Health and Wellness: This project will focus on services and opportunities with Learning Partners (affiliated with Community Health Partners and located in Livingston, provides inviting services to encourage and develop literacy in children and adults through reading programs, support services, tutoring, and education).  The intern will work with Learning Partners staff and clients to create opportunities for improving health and wellness by designing educational programs on specific health topics and/or developing programs for increasing physical activity.  Other aspects may include investigating current trends in health literacy and coordinating an educational presentation through designing bulletin boards and/or patient education materials, as well as researching and implementing an interactive computer kiosk in the community health center patient waiting room that allows access to low literacy medical reference sites. 
Adolescent Community Education: This experience will entail researching best practices in prevention of adolescent sexual risk behaviors, including teen pregnancy and STI transmission.  The intern will assist one or more community health clinics in implementation of these best practices through activities such as: 1) Preparing a resource guide for area teens and parents; 2) Conducting community outreach to targeted populations, and/or 3) Preparing and delivering a community presentation on a related topic. 
Internship projects with MORH/AHEC may include:
Community Health Services Development Program:  MORH/AHEC is engaged in an intensive community assessment project with Critical Access Hospitals throughout Montana.  The CHSD process involves creating a community advisory committee, conducting a random sample community survey, conducting focus groups, meeting with the community to analyze the data, and developing community health and health service goals based on the CHSD process.  The student will assist in all aspects of the CHSD assessment, and assist MORH/AHEC in analyzing the aggregate data to look for factors of importance to health and healthcare delivery in frontier communities.
Rural Health Initiative Website:  With leadership from the office of Senator Max Baucus and financial support from the Schering Plough Corporation, MORH/AHEC will be providing staff support to create a Montana network of communities and experts interested in community based health and wellness initiatives.  The student will assist the project by collecting profiles, stories and other content for an interactive website, a series of webinars, and technical assistance services to small rural Montana communities.

As mentioned previously, these internship projects are guides only.  After students are selected for internship positions, they will work closely with mentor agencies to refine and tailor the intern project to their skills, experiences, and goals.

For more information email Valerie Holznagel or call 994-3360.