Practice

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 & Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE) is a University of British Columbia/Simon Fraser University-affiliated academic research centre housed at 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)

1. Community based research: Beginner

2. Qualitative and/or epidemiological methods: Intermediate

3. Public health/academic writing: Intermediate

4. Social justice and ethical research engagement: Beginner

5. Multilingual skills an asset: Advanced