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.
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 wellbeing of all Boston residents, especially those impacted by racism and systemic inequities. The key macro initiative is the Live Long and Well Health Equity Agenda to reduce premature mortality for Boston residents. CDPCD seeks an intern to support the dissemination and implementation of the 2026-2029 BPHC Cancer Early Detection Workplan (The Workplan). The goal of The Workplan is to reduce late-stage diagnosis of cancer in Boston through systematic engagement of community-based organizations (CBOs) and Community Health Centers (CHCs), to convert residents that don’t screen for cancer to residents that do, resulting in more residents normalizing cancer early detection and management activity.
The internship is an opportunity to achieve valuable learning experiences in community outreach and engagement, project management, multicultural and LGBTQ+ healthcare messaging, and more. The tasks include working with CDPCD staff and the BPHC Cancer Advisory Group, and engaging with BPHC bureaus, divisions, and community-based organizations 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 intern may also support focus groups to understand the factors that influence Black men to seek preventive healthcare (e.g., cancer screenings).
Time: Winter 2026/Spring 2027
Stipend: Yes
The Center for Behavioral Health and Wellness 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. They are working to create a fair, just, and equitable behavioral health system in Boston, with a strong focus on youth. Their goals are to improve mental and behavioral health outcomes, particularly for those affected by racism and systemic inequities.
The internship is an opportunity to achieve valuable learning experiences in public communications about wellness, behavioral health, and substance use that address stigma, offer skills in addressing behavioral health issues, and acknowledge historic and ongoing barriers to care, with an initial focus on youth behavioral health. It will also focus on capacity building and training programs in behavioral health including our new focus on lay mental health and peer task shifting to meet the needs of community members.
Time: Winter 2026 / Spring 2027
Stipend: Yes
Situated at the intersection of direct service, policy innovation, and collaborative connection, Healing After Loss to Overdose Initiatives (HALO) supports families and communities bereaved by overdose loss. After an overdose death, HALO assists loss-survivors to meet emergent financial needs and connect to vital grief support navigation. HALO believes that financial stress should not get in the way of trauma recovery; everyone deserves a resourced and dignified healing process after overdose loss.
The internship is an opportunity to achieve valuable learning experiences in public health communications, developing clear and compelling presentations and social media messages on the HALO approach and impact for community audiences. Students are also invited to tailor the internship focus to their unique topic and population interests related to overdose and loss.
Time: Winter 2026/Spring 2027
Stipend: Yes
Past Student Projects
Tom Walsh, PhD Candidate, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Placement: Union Capital
N.J. Momah, MD, MPH Candidate
Placement: Cape Cod Community Health Center
Ella Houlihan, MPH Candidate, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission
Annette Siu, MPH Candidate, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Placement: Boston Public Health Commission
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