Applications for this internship will be accepted until a sufficient number of applications have been received. Applicants must be enrolled in an accredited Graduate program at the time the internship takes place to be eligible. We encourage students who are interested in this opportunity to submit an application as soon as possible. This internship will last for three months over the summer and will offer a monthly stipend of USD 1,250/month. Additionally, please note internships with PATH are contingent upon the Intern providing documented proof of identity and eligibility to participate in a paid or unpaid practical training program in the United States, in accordance with federal immigration law. Please include a cover letter with your application.
PATH Overview
PATH is an international nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. PATH's mission is to improve the health of people around the world by advancing technologies, strengthening systems, and encouraging healthy behaviors.
Program Overview
Our Reproductive Health Global Program encompasses a range of approaches aimed at improving women's and men's health in low-resource settings. The HPV Vaccines Project is working to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to prevent cervical cancer by generating and providing necessary evidence for decision-making about public-sector introduction of HPV vaccines.
Project background and aims:
PATH, in collaboration with Ministries of Health in India, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam, conducted demonstration projects of HPV vaccine Implementation from 2007-2011. These projects were evaluated for coverage achieved, community acceptability, program feasibility, and implementation costs. Primary analysis of evaluation data has already been performed; however, these large and complex datasets present an opportunity for secondary analyses of critical program components.
One such analysis investigated the inter-relationship between community messaging and awareness materials directed to parents and influential people parents consulted with prior to vaccination and the impact these had on vaccine uptake In India (Paul P, et al. Health Education & Behavior, 2012). This internship will review the model for knowledge and communications developed by Paul P et al. and test this model with HPV vaccination demonstration data from both years In Vietnam and the second year In Uganda. The analysis would explore the 'universality' of cervical cancer and HPV knowledge parameters and communication requirements for HPV vaccine - taking the model developed for India and seeing if it can be applied in other country contexts. The result would be a set of key messages that need to be communicated or methods of communications that need to be used regardless of country setting in order achieve high vaccine uptake.
The outcome of this internship would be a paper for peer-review journal submission and a set of recommended messages and communication strategies for new HPV vaccination programs.
Goals and learning objectives for the intern:
The goal of this internship is to produce a high quality scientific publication using population-based survey data. It is hoped that the intern will learn stronger data analysis skills, adapting existing data to a pre-specified multivariate model, as well as how to write for academic journals.
The intern will gain experience in understanding public health program design, implementation, and evaluation using HPV vaccine introduction as a model. Hands-on experience with a rich and complex dataset from population-based cross-sectional surveys will provide in-depth experience in managing and analyzing program evaluation data. Converting operations research into a publishable manuscript will result in grounded experience in writing for peer-reviewed journals - a skill that master's level students may not focus on during their academic studies.
Skills to be developed and/or expanded during the internship:
This internship focuses on data analysis of population-based survey data and developing writing skills for journal publications.
Proposed activities:
Review of background materials on HPV vaccine demonstration projects. Review of previously published technical reports and journal articles related to both HPV vaccination programs piloted In India, Uganda, and Vietnam during the project period. Synthesis of research methods and results from operations research in these project countries. Data cleaning and packaging for analysis. Drafting a data analysis plan, with pre-defined output tables. Drafting outline for manuscript. Completing draft of manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
Learning outcomes:
Periodic check-ins with the intern will review progress towards the learning goals. Corrective action or problem-solving will be done at these times to ensure forward progress. Completion of draft of a manuscript to submit to a peer-reviewed journal will be the outcome for learning for this project.
Brief description of required skills and experience:
Understanding of basic epidemiological and program evaluation methods is necessary. Ability to work with large, complex datasets of quantitative information. Critical thinking and synthesis of technical materials are required. Previous experience In quantitative data analysis with regression modeling and writing scientific results in either a technical research report or for journal submission would be helpful.
Graduate-level Internship, HPV Vaccine Project
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