IU School of Medicine Student Portal

2022-2023 Electives

93ZH780 — Immersive Public Health Externship

Description:

The Indiana Department of Health and partnering County Departments of Health will offer a unique hands-onexternship that will display the real-world applications of preventive medicine and public health for Indianacommunities. Students will receive an Indiana public health program orientation from IDOH leadership and then workwith county health officials to investigate and address high-priority public health problems including various infectiousdiseases (including TB, HIV, and STIs), food-borne disease outbreaks, maternal and child health, child or adultimmunization, and chronic disease management.

Learning Objectives

• 1) Describe the processes and approaches that contribute to the structure andfunction of a county public healthsystem. (SBP4)
• 2) Identify health education resources and evaluate their quality and credibility. (PBLI1)
• 3) Collaborate with a public health professional and outline the scope of their field work and authority. (SBP1)
• 4) Assess the role of state and county health departments in addressing the health of individuals and their localcommunity (SBP2 and SBP3)
• 5) Understand the role of public health infrastructure to prevent diseases (MK4)

Assessment

Clinical Performance Evaluation Form; (Reflections based on student participation in all health department meetingsand activities. Completed weekly by the students to demonstrate growth over time as well as a check-in with thesupervising county health official. Pre- and post-testing of students on their awareness and appreciation for key public health elements applied in health departments.)

Activities

Typical activities over the four weeks will include a combination of the following: Staffing immunization clinic, Communicable disease contact tracing, Food safety inspection, Environmental health inspections, Healthy homes inspections, Vital record review - inspection of death certificates, Attend board of health public meetings, Vector Surveillance team - mosquito trapping, Emergency preparedness and pandemic response planning, Examinations in STD Clinic, Refugee Screening and Follow-Up Appointments, Infectious Disease (ID) appointments (Latent TB Infection referrals), Syringe Services Program, Jail Outreach – STD and TB Testing, Active Tuberculosis treatment management in the field and office, Positive Resource Connection Outreach STD testing, Essence/Syndromic Surveillance Case investigations with HIV/STD Prevention - including investigations for Syphilis, HIV, Gonorrhea/Chlamydia, andPreExposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) referrals, Field treatment for HIV/STD preventionOutreach HIV/Hep C screening, SART (sexual assault response team), HIV Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) referrals to STD Clinic, Expedited Partner Therapy/EPTANY, mass/small vaccination/prophylaxis/outreach event “of the day” as indicatedCase Management (with Lead Case Managers/Supervisors), Tattoo parlor inspections, Pollution Control shadowing, Communications Shadowing, Meetings to attend during their time here:Any scheduled meeting of interest, School Health Advisory Board Meetings, TB case conference (monthly, both internal and with IDOH), STD case conference (monthly), Routine IDOH or other Webinars, Overdose Fatality Review, County Health Administrator/Medical Director shadowing

Enrollment Information

Prerequisites: 4th year status

Availability with Max Students per Rotation:

Duty Hours: 40 hours/week, inclusive of clinical work, health department meetings and time to work on and discuss the work on reflections and feedback about the rotation with the county health faculty and the elective coordinator

Time Distribution: 60% Clinical; 20% Lecture/Seminar; 10%Library/Research

Elective Type Category: CP - Clinical Practice

Notes and Enrollment Information:

Add/Drop Contact Person: Alecia Craig (alecraig@iu.edu) THIS ELECTIVE DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE INITIAL SENIOR MATCH. If interested in applying for this rotation, please contact Alecia Craig (alecraig@iu.edu). Phase 3 status required. Students are required to review the Public Health Overview module on the Canvas website prior to the start of the rotation.

Third Year Elective? No

Interprofessional Skills and Service Learning

Interprofessional Collaborative Skills: Yes

Skills Description: Medical students will be working with public health nurses, environmental specialists and potentially trainees from other relevant disciplines involved in public health.

Service Learning Included: None