Volunteer Opportunities!

NEW Community Health Volunteering Opportunities:

1. Health Needs Assessment of the African Community in New York

Project Description: The African Services Committee is a community-based organization in Harlem that provides health, housing, legal and social services to more than 10,000 newcomers each year focusing on HIV prevention, testing, care and advocacy. An important part of this effort is to conduct a community health needs assessment. The intern will have the opportunity to be a co-author on any publications arising from this work.

Volunteer Responsibilities: The intern would assist in conducting interviews and in the organization of focus groups with key leaders in the African community and other health providers in Harlem. Skills in qualitative research methods and community surveys will be imparted to the participant. The intern will be expected to devote 10 hours per week on this project during the academic year, and 40 hours per week during the summer. No compensation can be provided, but the supervisors will assist the student in securing funding for their work during the summer.

Intended Start Date: Immediately
Duration: 1 academic semester with opportunities to continue into the summer of 2012.
How to apply: Please provide your CV and a 1 page, double-spaced statement of interest to Demetri Blanas, Demetrib@africanservices.org. This is a rolling application.

2. Perceptions & behaviors of sub-Saharan Africans living in the United States on viral hepatitis

Volunteer Responsibilities: The research volunteer would assist in conducting interviews and the organization of focus groups with African immigrants at risk for viral hepatitis and health providers in Harlem. Skills in qualitative research methods and community surveys will be imparted to the participant and the volunteer will have access to mentorship by the Mount Sinai Clinical Trial Principle Investigator, Dr Ponni Perumalswami. The intern will be expected to devote 10 hours per week on this project during the academic year, and 40 hours per week during the summer. No compensation can be provided, but the supervisors will assist the student in securing funding for their work during the summer. Supervision and guidance in conducting the interviews, focus groups, and surveys will be provided by Demetri Blanas, currently a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellow at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, as well as by Dr Perumalswami.

Intended Start Date: Immediately
Duration: 1 academic semester with opportunities to continue into the summer of 2012.
How to apply: Please provide your CV and a 1 page, double-spaced statement of interest to Demetri Blanas, demetri.blanas@kendeya-chp. This is a rolling application.

3. Mobile phone technology solutions to home-based malaria management in southeastern Senegal

Project Description: This study aims to identify operational barriers to home-based malaria management (HMM) programs and to pilot novel technology strategies that can address these challenges in low-resource settings. This study, proposes to assess the operational barriers to implementing HMM programs and identify innovative technology modalities to overcome them.

Volunteer Responsibilities: The research volunteer would assist in designing interviews and the organization of focus groups with community health workers in Saraya. Skills in qualitative research methods will be imparted to the participant and the volunteer will have access to mentorship by the Mount Sinai Principle Investigator, Dr Nils Hennig, MD-PhD, and the Chief Medical Officer of the district of Saraya, Dr Youssoupha Ndiaye, MD-MPH.

Intended Start Date: Immediately
Duration: 1 academic semester with opportunities to continue into the summer of 2012.
How to apply: Please provide your CV and a 1 page, double-spaced statement of interest to demetri.blanas@kendeya-chp. This is a rolling application.

4. Feasibility study of an electronic medical record system implementation in primary care clinics in Senegal.

Project Description: The Kendeya Community Health Partnership is a small, international, non-profit organization whose mission is based on the belief that the most effective way to improve primary health care in underserved areas in Senegal is to build on the capacity of both the government health services and of local communities.

Volunteer Responsibilities: The intern will assist in identifying a number of open source electronic medical records (EMR) that could be used in a low-resource setting, such as in Saraya or Bargny. The intern will be expected to devote 10 hours per week on this project during the academic year, and 40 hours per week during the summer. No compensation can be provided, but the supervisors will assist the student in securing funding for their work during the summer and for future potential implementation of the EMR. Supervision and guidance by Demetri Blanas, the co-chair of the KCHP and the intern will gain access to mentorship in applying to the SciMed Medical School Early Acceptance Program (http://www.mountsinai.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/mount-sinai-school-of-medicine-launches-scimed). The intern is required to be a computer science major and considering applying to medical school.

Intended Start Date: Immediately
Duration: 1 academic semester with opportunities to continue into the summer of 2012.
How to apply: Please provide your CV and a 1 page, double-spaced statement of interest to demetri.blanas@kendeya-chp. This is a rolling application.


5. Increasing HIV Screening Rates among sub-Saharan Africans Living in the United States

Project Description: The purpose of this research study is thus to identify barriers to HIV screening among Africans in the U.S. that are shared with other vulnerable groups as well as unique barriers specific to this population and to develop a set of specific recommendations of how to improve screening efforts of community-based and provider organizations.

Volunteer Responsibilities: The research volunteer would assist in conducting interviews and the organization of focus groups with African immigrants at risk for HIV and health providers serving this community in Harlem. Skills in qualitative research methods and community surveys will be imparted to the participant and the volunteer will have access to mentorship by the Mount Sinai Principle Investigator, Dr Carol Horowitz, and advice in applying to medical school. The intern will be expected to devote 10 hours per week on this project during the academic year, and 40 hours per week during the summer. No compensation can be provided, but the supervisors will assist the student in securing funding for their work during the summer. Supervision and guidance in conducting the interviews, focus groups, and surveys will be provided by Demetri Blanas, currently a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellow at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, as well as by Dr Horowitz.

Intended Start Date: Immediately
Duration: 1 academic semester with opportunities to continue into the summer of 2012.
How to apply: Please provide your CV and a 1 page, double-spaced statement of interest to Demetrib@africanservices.org. This is a rolling application.