Volunteer Research Opportunity: Summer/Fall

Title: Research Intern
Location: Brooklyn VA Medical Center
Employer: Maria Antonia Rodriguez, PhD.
Time Commitment: 20+ hours/week for summer, 10 hrs/wk during school year
Duration: ASAP through December
Salary: unpaid

Qualifications: The applicant must be a rising sophomore, junior, or senior undergraduate or post-bac student, and should be pursuing a psychology major, nutrition major, pre-medical concentration, or something similar in nature. Research experience, experience with patients, and completion of a Research Methods or Statistics course are preferred, but not necessary.

Job Description:
Our externally funded multidisciplinary research team has positions available for Summer/Fall interns. We are looking for highly responsible, organized psychology major or pre-medical students who are interested in pursuing careers in medicine, psychology, clinical research, and related fields. This is an opportunity to be involved with several of our ongoing studies. The American Diabetes Association study (TACTICS) and the American Heart Association study (PREVENTS) are in their fourth year, while the federally-funded study VALOR in Heart Failure, is in its second year. In addition, a new federally-funded study, VIP Treatment in Heart Failure, began recently.

The individual would be responsible for assisting in recruitment and data management in ongoing research studies evaluating different behavioral approaches to improve treatment management for patients with heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, and stroke. The intern would also participate in organization of study materials, administrative duties, and literature searches. The individual will have opportunities to aid in patient recruitment, to observe patient intake and study interviews, and to participate in research team meetings. As part of the position, interns will be involved in academic deliberations involving a multidisciplinary group that includes individuals with expertise in medicine, psychology, epidemiology, statistics, health education, economics, etc. The interns are able to join in conducting the research, and in preparing for presentation and publication. As such, interns who make substantial contributions to any material can expect to be named as coauthors. For example, at the NYU Medicine Research Day in May 2011, two of our interns presented abstracts. In the past, they have also been coauthors of abstracts at large national meetings.
 
The position requires that the applicant be available for at least 20 hours a week during business hours (8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday) during the summer and 10 hours during Fall business hours. The position, which is an unpaid position at the Brooklyn VA Medical Center, would start as soon as possible and end in December. This is an excellent research opportunity for students planning to apply to graduate programs in Clinical/Health Psychology or medical school.

How to apply:

Please send a cover letter and resume before July 17, 2012 to MariaAntonia.Rodriguez@va.gov (Maria Antonia Rodriguez, Ph.D.). Applicants will be invited for interviews as applications are received. Candidates will be notified of acceptances in mid-late July.