Beyond Buzzwords: Community Engagement Demystified
Read our interview with Harvard Medical School Grad Laboni Hoque on learning through practice.
Community-Engaged Student Practice Placement
Overview
The Community-Engaged Student Practice Placement program builds sustained, bi-directional collaborations with community organizations via student practice placements. Through this initiative, community partners and students learn from one another. The program also works to increase the capacity of community partners in conducting needs assessments and evaluations. It also supports them in preparing for accreditation and translating evidence to programs and policies.
Goals
- Build sustained, bi-directional collaborations between community organizations and Harvard University via student practice placements. These partnerships focus on improving child health, promoting cancer screening and prevention, and addressing emerging public health priorities through policy change.
- Support the development of practical skills and community engagement expertise among public health and medical students.
- Increase the capacity of community partners to conduct needs assessments and evaluations, prepare for accreditation, and adopt evidence-based programs and policies to promote health and eliminate disparities.
Benefits
Partner Organization Benefits
- Help identifying and structuring long-term projects suitable for student involvement
- Support recruitment – submission of opportunity to Harvard Chan jobs, practicum board, and Scholars in Medicine newsletter
- Facilitate matching between organization and students
- Introductory webinar and one-on-one coaching for partner organization staff
Student Benefits
- Alignment of long-term projects to Harvard Chan coursework
- Support submission of applications to the Rose Service-Learning Fellowship for financial support
- Training prior to practicum and throughout placement. Topics may include community engagement strategies, coalition building, mixed methods evaluation, and IRB
- Opportunity for co-presentations with partners at quarterly CAB meetings
ThinkResearch Podcast: Student Practice Placement Initiative
Harvard Catalyst’s ThinkResearch Podcast produced an episode focused on this program. The discussion centered around our goals of translating classroom skills into practice and supporting local community-based work. Listen to podcast episode.
Harvard Medical School: Voices from the Community
In this video, our faculty lead Karen Emmons interviews fourth-year Harvard Medical School student Morgan Sedhev about her work with The Community Builders (TCB), which addresses medical and social needs in Boston housing. They are joined by TCB leaders Elizabeth González Suárez, vice president of community life, and Anne Vinick, director of community life for New England. The video highlights the important work being done to support our neighbors. Watch “Voices from the Community.”
Available Placements
All Harvard University students are eligible to apply for our student practice placements. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until positions are filled.
Email your cover letter and resume or CV to Rebekka Lee, director of the Harvard Catalyst Community Engagement program at rlee@hsph.harvard.edu.
Description: The Boston Community Health Collaborative (BCHC) is seeking an intern to help with the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) evaluation. The tasks include identifying measures of partnership development, coalition building, and public health systems change that are both valid and pragmatic, as well as developing processes for implementing a rigorous evaluation. This internship project will also support CHIP implementation and provide the student with hands-on experience in applied public health evaluation and coalition-based work.
Time: Flexible May – August | 20-40 hrs per week
Stipend: Yes
Description: The Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Division (CDPCD) supports the mission of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) to work in partnership with communities to protect and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents, especially those impacted by racism and systemic inequities. BPHC is seeking an intern to work with CDPCD staff BPHC Cancer Advisory Group, and engage with BPHC bureaus, divisions, and community- based organizations to establish and strengthen partnerships, to implement evidence-based strategies for clinicians to screen for cancer based on patient risk, and to establish sustainable patient navigation that provides structured support for residents throughout the care continuum. The internship is an opportunity to achieve valuable learning experiences in community outreach and engagement, project management, multicultural and LGBTQ+ healthcare messaging, and more.
Time: 20-30 hrs per week
Stipend: Yes
Description: The mission of Union Capital (UC) is to transform social capital into opportunity by rewarding community engagement. We combine technology and relationship-building to strengthen community networks, build social capital, and create new pathways of opportunity for individuals and communities. UC is seeking an intern to support the evaluation of the organization’s impact work. This includes analyzing 10 years of survey and member engagement data collected via the Union Capital app, as well as developing an approach to additional qualitative data to tell members’ impact stories. The internship is an opportunity to achieve valuable learning experiences in community engagement, project management, qualitative data analysis, qualitative methods, and more.
Time: May – August | 20-40 hrs per week
Stipend: Yes
Description: Cape Cod Community Health Center is seeking an intern to support their work through data-driven storytelling. With national changes and state budget pressures impacting local organizations, the threats to health centers’ mission to provide accessible care to everyone regardless of ability are great. Using health center clinical and cost data, we aim to communicate how Massachusetts can be a model of healthcare and investments in primary care for the future. This summer placement is an opportunity to achieve valuable learning experiences in community engagement,quantitative data analysis, health communications, and more.
Time: May – August | 20-40 hrs per week
Stipend: Yes
Description: Cape Cod Community Health Center is seeking an intern to support their efforts to scale a recent successful lifestyle medicine pilot. Using health center clinical data and review of the work of local community organizations (e.g., YMCAs, Councils on Aging), we aim to develop a model for how lifestyle medicine can be implemented in health center settings for a larger population impact. This summer placement is an opportunity to achieve valuable learning experiences in community engagement, quantitative data analysis, health communications, and more.
Time: May – August | 20-40 hrs per week
Stipend: Yes
Past Student Projects
Kelly Jackson, MPH candidate, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Placement: Birth Equity and Justice Massachusetts (BEJMA)
Natalie Ezem, MS candidate, Global Health and Population
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission
Elise Hoffman, MPH, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Moulika Hitchens, MPH candidate
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission
Devin Dattolico, MPH candidate, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Placement: Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers (MACHW)
Nora Abo-Sido MD, MPH candidate, Health Policy and Management
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission
Megan Carney, MPH candidate, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Sanjana Srinivasan, MD candidate
Placement: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Kaitlin Schroeder, MPH candidate, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission
Zara Michael, MPH candidate
Ellen Zhang, MD candidate
Placement: Massachusetts Association for Community Health Workers
Laboni Hoque, HMS, MD candidate
Placement: The Community Builders
Naana Nkrumah-Ababio, HSPH, MPH, MD
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission
Karen Kwaning, HSPH, MPH, UCLA, MD candidate
Placement: Boston Children’s Hospital
Carolyn King, HSPH, MPH
Placement: Boston Children’s Hospital
Alex Gugliuzza, HSPH, MPH
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission Project: Facilitating Organization Readiness in Meeting Public Health Reaccreditation Standards
Placement: Boston Children’s Hospital
Project: Boston Childcare Support Initiative: Building Provider Capacity and Promoting Early Childhood Health Equity
Meisui Liu, HMS, MD candidate
Placement: Boston Public School
Project: Boston Universal Pre-K Program: Family Engagement Policy
Julia Healey, HSPH, MPH
Placement: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Project: Health Equity Strategic Planning
Ruhi Nath, HSPH, MPH
Placement: American Heart Association
Project: Leading with Health Equity
Katie Busalacchi, HSPH, MPH
Placement: Boston Children’s Hospital’s Office of Community Health
Project: Strategy Review Practicum
Morgan Sehdev, HMS, MD
Placement: The Community Builders
Project: Senior Health and Housing Practice Placement
Michelle Lee, HSPH, MPH, HMS, MD
Placement: Cambridge Public Health Department
Project: Implementing a Framework for Early Childhood Mental Wellness in Cambridge
Hae In Kim, HSPH, MPH
Placement: Boston Children’s Hospital’s Office of Community Health
Project: Community Health Needs Assessment
Sitara Mahtani, HSPH, MPH
Placement: Cambridge Health Alliance
Project: An Initiative to Expand and Evaluate an Oral Health Promotion Program for Cambridge Children
Jane Carpenter, HSPH, MPH
Placement: Cambridge Public Health Department
Project: Developing a framework for early childhood mental wellness in Cambridge
Erica L. Reaves, HSPH, DrPH
Placement: Framingham Health Department
Project: Healthy Aging