SFU Practicum
Simon Fraser University Practicum Opportunity Form
Practicum Organization/Sponsoring Organization: Centre for Gender & Sexual Health Equity
Country of Organization: Canada
Address: 1190 Hornby St., Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2K5 and 647 E Hastings St., Vancouver, BC, V6A 1R2
Brief Description of Organization
Located in Vancouver, BC, the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE) is a UBC Faculty of Medicine research centre, affiliated with Simon Fraser University and Providence Health Care. The CGSHE has a strategic mandate of community-based research, policy and practice to reduce gender and sexual health inequities among marginalized populations in BC, Canada and globally. The CGSHE has more than 100 staff and trainees, including academic and clinical researchers, graduate students, and frontline research staff, working out of our offices at Providence Health Care and our community-based research office in the Downtown Eastside. We work in a highly collaborative team and strive to hire members from diverse backgrounds and lived experience.
Preceptor Contact
Dr. Shira Goldenberg, Assistant Professor
Contact: shira_goldenberg@sfu.ca or 778.782.3532
Mailing Address: 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6
Contact for Submission of Applications
Megan Bobetsis, megan.bobetsis@cgshe.ubc.ca
Practicum Detail
Practicum Title: AESHA/IRIS Study Practicum
Practicum Site Address: 1190 Hornby St., Vancouver, BC, V6Z 2K5 and 647 E. Hastings St., Vancouver, BC, V6A 1R2
Country of Practicum: Canada
Remuneration Type (stipend/honorarium/accommodation/airfare, if any): None
Remuneration Amount ($): N/A
Number of Students Accommodated: 1-3
Duration: May – August
Brief Description of Practicum Activities
This MPH Practicum is designed for highly motivated students who are interested in pursuing a career in sexual and reproductive health, im/migrant health, women’s health, HIV research, practice and/or policy. Students with prior research experience may benefit most, however, all are welcome to apply. Students will obtain hands-on mentored research experience at the CGSHE’s community research office in the Downtown Eastside, and exposure to community-based research on sexual health, HIV and human rights with marginalized populations such as sex workers, im/migrant women and women living with HIV.
We are specifically looking for students to work on the following CGSHE projects:
1. An Evaluation of Sex Workers’ Health Access (AESHA)
An ongoing CIHR/NIH-funded longitudinal, community-based cohort study examining the impacts of currently unfolding structural and system-level interventions (e.g., community empowerment, policing, peer-led HIV/STI testing) on sexual health inequities, overdose risk, and access to care among women sex workers in Metro Vancouver, BC (Preceptor: Goldenberg (PI)).
2. Evaluating Inequities in Refugee and Immigrant Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Access (IRIS)
A new CIHR-funded mixed-methods study evaluating immigrant women’s engagement with and access to sexual and reproductive health services in BC, using prospective qualitative interviews and population-based data on health services utilization (Preceptors: Goldenberg (PI)/Lavergne (Co-PI)).
Students will have the opportunity to prepare a manuscript suitable for peer-review using either quantitative or qualitative methods. Other activities may include developing research instruments; translation/transcription; learning about or exposure to qualitative and quantitative interviewing activities; cohort research methods; and outreach activities. Students will not be required to conduct statistical analyses, although the opportunity for qualitative analysis (e.g., coding) is available.
Skills Requirement
Competencies/skills/knowledge: Level of Expertise (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
- Community based research: Beginner
- Qualitative and/or epidemiological methods: Intermediate
- Public health/academic writing: Intermediate
- Social justice and ethical research engagement: Beginner
- Multilingual skills an asset: Advanced