Practicum Opportunity with Zambian Ministry of Health and Program in Global Surgery & Social Change at Harvard
Message from Rachel Yorlets, MPH, Clinical Research Specialist with Boston Children’s Hospital Department of Plastic & Oral Surgery:
I work in research at Boston Children’s Hospital for Dr. John Meara, the Plastic Surgeon-in-Chief, who is also the Director of the Paul Farmer Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard Medical School. This is an incredible group, and their research has really grown, especially since Dr. Meara chaired The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery this year. That process has generated a lot of exciting global health research for us, and we are looking for a practicum student – I think this would be especially appealing to a global health or health policy and management student.
**Please note, an information session about the practicum will be held TODAY, Wednesday, January 6th at 12:30pm at 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston (this is where the Program’s main Harvard office is located, and it’s right off the Longwood Green Line E stop). We’re planning to have a second one in January (date and time TBD), and if anyone cannot make the info sessions, I will arrange something. Please feel free to email or call me directly (rachel.yorlets@childrens.harvard.edu and (617) 919-1242).
Description of the Practicum:
Over the past two years, The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (http://www.lancetglobalsurgery.org/ ) has worked to describe the state of surgical care in the world and to identify potential paths forward. We have developed a set of indicators and guidelines for a National Surgical Plan, which we believe will allow assessment and enhancement of current surgical systems. Using this framework, we will determine the state of surgical care in Zambia. After gathering this background information, we will assist Zambia in developing an actionable National Surgical Plan that will allow all its citizens access to safe, affordable surgical care. Lastly, we will work with Zambia to create linkages and partnerships with various stakeholders who can assist in implementing the National Surgical Plan with Zambia.
We will perform the initial assessment in partnership between the Ministry of Health and The Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (http://www.pgssc.org/) during February 2016. The focus will revolve around a deep assessment of the following five major domains prior to any significant strategic planning and intervention efforts: infrastructure, workforce, service delivery, financing, and information management. The assessment and planning phases will result in a report for the Zambian government to appropriately integrate surgical services into their 5-year national health plan for 2017-2021. Roles and responsibilities may include but are not limited to: interfacing with local NGOs and stakeholders, facilitating meetings, travel abroad (likely unfunded), background research, presentations to the Zambian Ministry of Health
If you are interested in this opportunity, please feel free to contact Rachel directly at rachel.yorlets@childrens.harvard.edu. Information sessions will be held in January.
