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by Eric Coles, DrPH
This summer season public well being college students are struggling to seek out positions that fulfill field-based studying necessities for his or her diploma packages, as many host organizations have cancelled their summer season practicum and internship packages because of COVID-19. On the similar time, native public well being departments are in determined want of extra assets for contact tracing and different efforts to fight COVID-19.
Educational establishments will help each these teams by supporting college students to work and volunteer with native public well being departments. With institutional help, college students can have a optimistic influence on native public well being whereas fulfilling their diploma necessities by a summer season of service studying.
Colleges can do three issues to help college students who volunteer for COVID-19. First, they will permit college students to make use of COVID-19 positions as practicums or for course credit score by unbiased research. The Council on Schooling for Public Well being, the accreditation physique of public well being levels, has really helpful “most flexibility” for practicum positions this 12 months. College students will want flexibility round areas, supervisors, deliverables, and hours. Any adjustments to necessities should then be clearly communicated to college students in order that they know COVID-19 volunteering is an appropriate possibility. College students shall be extra more likely to volunteer if it will probably advance their research.
Second, fostering connections with native public well being departments can create new alternatives for college kids. As they handle the pandemic response and its myriad calls for, the flood of questions, data, and requests from the neighborhood and implementation companions make it tough for native public well being departments to arrange and handle interns this summer season. Well being departments, thus, need assistance with a view to make the most of college students to help their work. One answer is to ascertain educational well being departments, that are formalized partnerships between a public well being division, at a metropolis, county, or state stage, and educational establishments. AHDs might be discovered sparingly across the nation however are very helpful in facilitating connections between college students and well being departments. Profitable AHDs permit many extra college students to be positioned and undertake significant public well being work.
I’ve spent the final six weeks volunteering with the Massachusetts Educational Well being Division (AHD) Consortium in its COVID-19 response. The AHD not too long ago created the Educational Public Well being Volunteer Corps to help native public well being departments throughout Massachusetts. The mission makes use of a workforce idea the place a single lead volunteer is the purpose of contact with a neighborhood board of well being and organizes a workforce of volunteers to help their recognized wants. It has proven early indicators of success. Within the final six weeks, a number of hundred volunteers have been positioned by the partnership, a lot of whom are utilizing the chance for his or her practicums. This association advantages faculties by inserting practicum seekers and assembly certification necessities whereas supporting native public well being departments throughout Massachusetts to deal with COVID-19.
Lastly, discovering methods to alleviate monetary pressure on college students will permit for extra depth and variety within the volunteer pool. Extra privileged college students with safer monetary backgrounds have a neater choice to make about volunteering. Whereas budgets shall be tight at many faculties, college students are additionally feeling the burden, much more so for these with much less privileged backgrounds. This monetary consideration is on the coronary heart of the fairness concern round scholar volunteers.
Across the nation, there are almost 40,000 college students enrolled in faculties and packages of public well being. A lot of these college students will want practicum positions this summer season. A “summer season of service studying” is the right alternative to help native public well being departments and assist to fight this pandemic. __________________________________________________________________________
Eric Coles is a Physician of Public Well being graduating scholar on the Harvard Chan Faculty of Public Well being and the Co-Director of Volunteer Operations on the Educational Public Well being Volunteer Corps since March.
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