Graduate Student Internship Program

This internship has been filled.

Maine

Developing Maine’s Comprehensive MCH Strengths and Needs Assessment
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Family Health
MCH Epidemiology, Augusta, ME
Skill Area: Needs Assessment

Agency Information

The internship will be housed in the Maine CDC’s MCH Epidemiology group within the Division of Family Health. The MCH Epi group is part of a team of six epidemiologists that support the Divisions of Chronic Disease and Family Health within the Maine CDC. The programs within the Division of Family Health include: Children with Special Health Needs, Teen and Young Adult Health, Injury and Suicide Prevention, WIC, Public Health Nursing, and Women’s Health.

Purpose, goals, and objectives of internship

The purpose of the proposed internship is to assist the state’s Title V program in analyzing qualitative and/or quantitative data for the 2010 Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Needs Assessment.

The goals of the project are: (1) examine risks, strengths, and trends in key MCH indicators; (2) help Maine’s Title V program identify potential priorities areas; and (3) assist in developing a plan for obtaining feedback and disseminating the strengths and needs assessment.

There are several possible projects for the intern to work on related to Maine’s 2010 Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment that would help to achieve these goals: (1) begin the analysis of focus group data looking for key MCH needs and strengths; (2) analyze quantitative data from surveys and vital statistics, which could include: Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey (PRAMS), Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), and birth certificates; and (3) help state staff develop a dissemination plan to obtain public input on the strengths and needs assessment document. The intern could choose to be involved in all of these tasks or focus on one or two specifically.

Data or analytic tasks and activities

There are several analytic possibilities open to the intern depending on their level of interest and skill. The intern could help with the qualitative analysis of focus group data from MCH stakeholders. The state will use the focus group results to identify potential MCH priorities. These analyses would be done in collaboration with university and state staff.

There is also the possibility for the intern to gather and analyze quantitative data for the strengths and needs assessment. This would involve pulling data from sources including the US Census and conducting analyses on datasets such as birth and death certificates, hospital discharge data, YRBS Data, PRAMS, and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data.

Maine is also currently working on developing a dissemination plan for the strengths and needs assessment. We want to be able to obtain public feedback and monitor and track the feedback we receive. If the intern has an interest in informatics or data dissemination, we would like assistance with the development of this plan.

Data or analytic skills required

We would prefer that the intern has completed at least one course in biostatistics and one course in epidemiology and is willing to learn how to use SAS statistical software. Experience working with qualitative data is preferred.

Supervisors

Primary: Dr. Erika Lichter, who is Maine’s Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist and holds a faculty position in the Department of Applied Medical Sciences at the University of Southern Maine. Dr. Lichter holds a doctorate in Maternal and Child Health and has a background in epidemiology and statistics, as well as SAS programming. She is the lead epidemiologist on the development of the quantitative portion of Maine’s Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Strengths and Needs Assessment.

Secondary: Valerie Ricker, Director of the Division of Family Health at the Maine CDC and Barbara Poirier, Manager of Public Health Programs at the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. Valerie Ricker has a Masters in Maternal Child Health and one in Primary Care Nursing and has over 28 years of clinical and public health experience working with the MCH population. She is guiding the development of Maine’s MCH Block Grant Strengths and Needs Assessment and its dissemination. Barbara Poirier has a Masters in Public Policy and Management and has been working with the University of Southern Maine, Muskie School in the field of public health since 2000. She has expertise in the collection of qualitative data and its analysis and she is the primary author of Maine’s Maternal and Child Health Block Grant. She is leading Maine’s efforts to gather qualitative data for the Block Grant Strengths and Needs Assessment.

Internship begins

May or June 2009

Housing

General assistance can be provided in locating housing. Apartment rentals are available in the area.

Transportation

It is recommended that the intern have a vehicle since public transportation is limited, but there are opportunities for carpooling and rideshares.

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