Presenter: Kelly Biglin, Public Health Science, Global Public Health Scholars
For my practicum project, I completed an internship with Public Health Beyond Border Inc. The mission of PHBB is to expand global health awareness in college students by partnering with international communities for global health interventions. This organization began as a student club at the University of Maryland and officially became a recognized Nonprofit during the summer I was interning with them. I was on a team of six interns that reported to the members of the board of the organization, which were all recent UMD graduates. It was so incredible to be part of the collaborative and innovative environment as the nonprofit was being created. We met virtually on weekly zoom calls, and each had deliverables to report on for the previous week. My specific responsibilities included researching global health interventions and creating comprehensive toolkits that outlined the health issue and activities PHBB could conduct with communities to address the issues. The purpose of the toolkits was to create a framework that could be shared with partner chapters of the organization as PHBB expands to other universities across the country. We focused on emphasizing the importance of cultural competency throughout all of the toolkits, as a key characteristic of a successful global health intervention is cooperation with the partner community. Some of the toolkit topics included Oral Rehydration Therapy, Malaria, hand-washing, and nutrition. As part of the toolkit creation process, I interviewed experts about a variety of health subjects, including health literacy, public health evaluations, and past UMD PHBB experiences. Overall, this practicum was such an enriching experience that built upon what I had learned in Scholars and applied it to an organization that is making such a profound impact on global health.