Program Associate position open with Elevate Destinations

March 2nd, 2017 in Jobs

Elevate Destinations is looking for an experienced, full-time Program Associate. We are a dynamic,

socially responsible travel company striving to bring more meaning, perspective, and positive impact into the

lives of our travelers while respecting local destinations and communities. We are looking for a motivated

self-starter who can assist with managing trips and bring new ideas and introspection to our tightly knit

Donor Travel team. This is an entry-level position which requires superb organization, attention to detail,

creative problem-solving and eloquent communication skills.

Applicants should have experience in at least one of the five categories to be considered for this position:

• Experience in the travel industry
• Experience serving a high net worth community
• Event planning
• Understanding of sustainability & international development
• Sales

More information on the position can be found here.

Applications Extended until March 13th! – Zambia Field Program Summer Practicum

March 1st, 2017 in GH Announcements

Zambia Field Program Summer Practicum – Applications extended until March 13th!

After multiple requests the Department of Global Health has decided to extend the application deadline until Monday March 13th at 5:00pm for the GH775 African Field Practicum in Public Health this Summer. 

The program takes place from May 26-July 2 in Zambia. The students will have a unique opportunity to live in the active market town of Choma, the capital of Zambia’s Southern Province. This 5-week, 4-credit course meets the MPH practicum requirement and can also be taken as a course in 3 MPH certificates (Monitoring & Evaluation, Design & Conduct of Public Health Research, & Global Health) or as an elective for other certificates. The course is divided into four parts: the first is split between classroom and field sessions, the second is classroom lectures and designing the study instruments, the third consists of data collection in the field, and the final part of the course is analysis of the data and presentations to the community and the stakeholders. 

A new informational video about the program and the application to apply can be found here: /ghblast/gh-practicum/zambia-field-practicum/ 

NOTE:  A Santander Travel award is provided to each admitted student, which helps defray travel expenses. There is no separate application needed.

DES Action Symposium

February 23rd, 2017 in Conferences/Seminars

Monitoring and Evaluation Intern – Mothers Home Access Zambia Project

February 23rd, 2017 in Practicums/Internships

Summer Internship - 2017

Mothers Home Access Zambia (MAHMAZ)

Scope of Work – Monitoring and Evaluation Interns

To apply: Submit a resume and cover letter to Parker Chastain at psc347@bu.edu

Project:

The internship is with the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD). The student will work with the team implementing the Maternity Homes Access in Zambia Project (MAHMAZ). This 3 year project is funded by Merck for Mothers, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the ELMA Foundation, and works in partnership University of Michigan, Africare, the Government of Zambia and the Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL) initiative.

The MAHMAZ project is complementing Government efforts in meeting SDG 5 as well as the SMGL project’s work in generating demand for health services, promoting access to care and improving the quality of maternal and newborn health services by addressing the “three delays” in Zambia which are:

1. Delays in deciding to seek care,
2. Delays in getting to care, and
3. Delays in receiving care upon arriving at the health facility.

The project is designed to address the distance challenge that far too many women face in accessing quality facility-based care. To make it easier for women to access assisted delivery, the project is building 10 maternity homes (referred to locally as Mothers Shelters). These comfortable, safe homes will provide a place where women can stay in the last weeks of pregnancy so they can deliver at a nearby facility capable of performing basic emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC) with trained birth attendants. They also will be within reasonable transfer distance to facilities that can provide comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CEmONC) in case it is needed. The homes will be equipped and managed in ways that we hope will increase community acceptance and engagement, and assure long term sustainability.

MAHMAZ will also be evaluating the maternity home models built by our project and our partners to determine a) whether the homes are effective in increasing facility delivery for vulnerable women and b) their potential for operational and financial sustainability. In support of the operational sustainability of the homes the project has implemented community based governance and management systems aimed at enhancing community ownership, support and accountability.

Areas of Focus for This Internship:

1. Monitoring and Evaluation
2. Local community engagement in health programs in developing countries
3. Sustainability of health programs in low-resource settings
4. Qualitative research methods

Internship Summary

The project seeks an intern to work at our offices in Zambia for 8 weeks between June and August 2017 to assist with qualitative data collection and synthesis for the governance and sustainability portions of our project.

1. The intern will interview project staff and governance committee members, and review project documents in order to draft a paper on what methods were used to develop the current governance structure of our mothers’ shelters. The intern will work closely with the M&E Coordinator and Field Site Managers, under the general oversight of the Project Director. The position may be based in Lusaka or Choma, with travel to Nyimba. Results will eventually become part of the Toolkit for Government on the scale up of MWHs in Zambia and may be used when disseminating project results.

Responsibilities:

1. Develop a draft methods paper and chapter for the Toolkit for the formation and implementation of the project Governance Structures

Work with the Field Site Managers and Construction Manager to document the steps that led to the formation of the mothers’ shelter governance committees, which oversee the functioning and sustainability of the mothers’ shelters.

Such steps included:

1. Formative research
2. Engagement of stakeholders

• Formation of Governance Committees and Management Units

1. Functioning of Governance Committees since formation

• Work with governance committee members at each site to document the implementation and functioning of the committees since formation, including their members, roles, frequency of meetings, purpose of meetings and any changes that have occurred
• Methods of data collection will include interviews with project staff and governance committee members, review of reports and documents created for the mothers’ shelters, and review of project and committee meeting minutes and other project documents

The intern will be expected to work with Project Staff and in collaboration with their University of Zambia MPH candidate counterpart to:

• Develop a project plan
• Develop research questions and a plan for data collection and synthesis
• Develop interview guides to be used during the interviewing of project staff and governance committee members
• Develop a system for documenting information obtained from the review of meeting minutes, reports, and project documents
• Synthesize all information through a methods paper, to be submitted to the M&E team

Interns will be provided assistance from the project team at all stages of the internship, from on boarding, to research plan and interview guide development, and synthesis of findings.

Other considerations:

• Interns will work individually and jointly to collect data and develop their respective papers
• Travel to rural health facilities is required
• This internship satisfies the practicum requirement for BUSPH

Qualifications:

• Current MPH student at Boston University
  • Preference will be given to applicants in the Monitoring and Evaluation certificate and the Global Health Certificate
• Prior experience in qualitative research methods (through employment or course-work)
• Self-starter, able to work with minimal supervision
• Ability to work in a cross-cultural setting
• Ability to live in a field setting with sometimes limited electricity

Project Management Internship – Mothers Home Access Zambia project

February 23rd, 2017 in Practicums/Internships

Summer Internship - 2017

Mothers Home Access Zambia (MAHMAZ)

Scope of Work – Project Management

To apply: Submit a resume and cover letter addressed to Parker Chastain at psc347@bu.edu

Project:

The internship is with the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD). The student will work with the team implementing the Maternity Homes Access in Zambia Project (MAHMAZ). This $6.2 million, 3 year project is funded by Merck for Mothers, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the ELMA Foundation, and works in partnership University of Michigan, Africare, the Government of Zambia and the Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL) initiative.

The MAHMAZ project is complementing Government efforts in meeting MDG 5 as well as the SMGL project’s work in generating demand for health services, promoting access to care and improving the quality of maternal and newborn health services by addressing the “three delays” which are:

1. Delays in deciding to seek care,
2. Delays in getting to care, and
3. Delays in receiving care upon arriving at the health facility.

The project is designed to address the distance challenge that far too many women face in accessing quality facility-based care. To make it easier for women to access assisted delivery, the project is building 10 maternity homes (referred to locally as Mothers Shelters). These comfortable, safe homes will provide a place where women can stay in the last weeks of pregnancy so they can deliver at a nearby facility capable of performing basic emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC) with trained birth attendants. They also will be within reasonable transfer distance to  facilities that can provide comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CEmONC) in case it is needed. The homes will be equipped and managed in ways that we hope will increase community acceptance and engagement, and assure long term sustainability.

Position:

This is a temporary summer internship involving various duties that will facilitate an experience that will be useful in preparing for one for the ever evolving environment of Global Project Management.

The intern will work closely with Project Director Kaluba Mataka (Lusaka, Zambia) and Project Administrator Parker Chastain (Boston, MA,  U.S.). The position may be based in Boston, Lusaka or Choma, to be decided closer to start date.

Responsibilities:

• Employ project management support strategies to facilitate operations of the MAHMAZ project
• Support in managing the team’s schedules and milestones; ensuring that weekly project statuses are received from team members
• Assist in Identifying and managing  the project scope, constraints, risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies and deadlines; documenting risk mitigation plans
• Document resourcing needs, availability and commitments for scheduled project activities
• Document and communicate how well the project management systems are operating and make recommendations for improvement
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Current MPH student at Boston University in a Global Health or Project Management Certificate program
• Expressed interest in Global Project Management
• Clear communication skills both written and verbal messaging
• Flexibility in duties based on the ever evolving landscape of a fast paced global project
• Ability to work in a cross-cultural setting, with willingnes to live and work in foreign county

Research Assistant – Research Program on Children and Global Adversity

February 23rd, 2017 in Jobs

The Research Program on Children and Global Adversity (RPCGA) at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health is currently looking for a

Research Assistant

Led by Dr. Theresa Betancourt, the RPCGA focuses on understanding trajectories of risk and resilience in children facing multiple forms of adversity, including poverty, conflict, and infectious disease. You can learn more about our exciting work at https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/rpcga/. We currently have projects in Sierra Leone, Rwanda and with the Refugee community in the Boston area.

Desired skills/experience all of which we be responsibilities for this position:

• Proficient in Stata (required) for data management tasks, e.g., creating labels, created scale score using a variety of algorithms, fixing incorrect values, formatting dates, etc.
  • Familiarity with common coding and labeling standards and/or willingness to use guidelines provided.
• Can merge datasets in Stata for long/univariate and wide/multivariate formats
• Can troubleshoot inconsistencies in IDs and static demographics over time
• “Electronic” cleaning of data (required), e.g., run freqs to look for out of range values, run logic checks
  • Create flags for cases that might have issues/inconsistencies on various indicators
  • Present issues and some supporting analysis to team for discussion and decision making
• Researching and determining/confirming final scoring procedures for known scales and new indices (e.g., of risk behavior),
• Familiarity with psychometric testing, e.g., Chronbach’s alpha and factor analysis, preferred
• Data management documentation – codebook & supporting docs
  • Update codebook to include all variables from all waves of data in addition to all new variables
  • Develop a “Decisions” document noting all decisions made including the problem, the decision, and any supporting documentation used to make the decision (e.g., descriptive statistics, lit search, etc)
  • Create a document describing the “trail” from raw data to final cleaned dataset noting syntax files and data sets used at each step

Salary commensurate with experience and in line with the standard University rates.

Please contact Emily Coles (ecoles@hsph.harvard.edu) for more information.

Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale

February 23rd, 2017 in Conferences/Seminars

The schedule has just been announced for the Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale on April 22-23, 2017! 

With more than 2,000 participants, the Global Health & Innovation Conference is the world’s largest and leading global health and social entrepreneurship conference.

Houston Global Health Collaborative SUSTAIN Conference 2017

February 23rd, 2017 in Conferences/Seminars

The Houston Global Health Collaborative (HGHC) SUSTAIN Conference 2017 in collaboration with Rice Business and Texas Children’s Global Health will be held Thursday, March 23rd to Saturday, March 25th at Rice Business Jones Graduate School of Business.

The mission of HGHC is to involve, connect, and unite individuals, groups, and member institutions of the Texas Medical Center to address global health challenges through education, research, and service. Over 60 speakers from organizations like Baylor International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative, Baylor Global Initiatives, Rice Business, aligned with the World Health Organization, and more will cover a variety of topics centered on the Sustainable Development Goals. The conference includes poster presentations and an exposition for student organizations, non-profit organizations, and businesses to showcase/connect their work. Complimentary food, coffee, and wine/beer is available during the event. Additional information about the conference, submitting poster presentations, exposition opportunities for student organizations/businesses, and benefits of sponsorship may be found here: advertising folder.

The priority deadline to register is February 28th. Registration is now open!

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS UNTIL MARCH 1ST CALL FOR SPONSORSHIP & EXPO (TABLE SPACE): please e-mail hghcconference@gmail.com.

Digital Health Program Manager Consultant – HealthEnabled

February 16th, 2017 in Jobs

Digital Health Program Manager: Consultant for Faster to Zero Project (Uganda) February 15, 2017

Page 1 of 3

Scope of Work: Digital Health Program Manager Consultant

The Faster to Zero initiative aims to support Ministries of Health and partners in the scale-up of digital health tools to support the Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (EMTCT). This public-private partnership is supported by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the USAID-funded Knowledge for Health (K4Health) project, as well as Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and is led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) and HealthEnabled.

Uganda and South Africa are priority countries for Faster to Zero. In Uganda, the Initiative will address critical gaps in EMTCT through the introduction of digital health tools to support pregnant women, mothers, partners and health providers to improve the quality of HIV care and reduce loss to follow up (LTFU) of HIV-positive mother and infant pairs. The project will be implemented in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Uganda, the PEPFAR/Uganda team, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) and other key digital health implementers.

The Digital Health Program Manager will work closely with the Health Information Division of the Ministry of Health, as well as other key partners, to lead the design, implementation, and scale up of the prioritized digital health technologies. The Digital Health Specialist will jointly report to the MOH as well as to the Principal and Policy Lead at HealthEnabled.

Period of contract: Full Time, March 2017 – October 2017 with possibility of extension

Location: Kampala, Uganda, with occasional travel within the country

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and lead a diverse team of stakeholders to support the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and scale up of digital technologies to accelerate the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV in Uganda.

• Coordinate with relevant stakeholders in Uganda, South Africa, and the United States to ensure the smooth and sustainable implementation of prioritized digital health tools in Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF)-supported facilities.

• This position is seconded to the Health Information Division of the Ministry of Health. The consultant will be responsible for relationship building and collaboration with the Health Information Division and other relevant Divisions and staff, including the PMTCT Unit, to ensure project activities are aligned with Ministry priorities and strategies.

• Understand and consider national policy requirements, including privacy and security requirements, in the design and implementation of interventions.

• Collaborate with Ministry of Health to develop and implement a national digital health strategy for EMTCT in Uganda.

• Represent the Faster to Zero Initiative and its partners professionally at all times.

• Regularly engage with other implementing partners and institutions working in digital health and EMTCT to minimize duplication and enhance collaboration.

Digital Health Program Manager: Consultant for Faster to Zero Project (Uganda) February 15, 2017

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• Contribute to project reporting and regular communication with project partners.

• Approximately 30% travel, primarily to Southwest Uganda.

Master’s Degree in Informatics, Public Health, or related field

• 3-5 years professional experience in implementing and managing digital health or mHealth programs in limited-resource settings

• Experience working in Uganda

• Experience working with national information systems and/or setting up an enterprise architecture and health information exchange

• Experience designing and implementing digital and mobile applications

• Experience in developing and implementing electronic medical record systems advantageous

• Experience working in a complex policy environment

• Demonstrated team work and stakeholder management

• Experience working with Ministries of Health preferred

• Interest and skills in capacity building

• Experience in program monitoring and evaluation

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Excellent written and spoken English language skills

• Ability to work in a fast-paced and challenging environment and manage a variety of tasks with limited time and support

How to Apply:

Please send an email with the subject “Last Name_EOI for Faster to Zero Uganda Consultancy” to info@healthenabled.org with your CV, contact details and a brief expression of interest that includes your experience and salary expectations by Thursday, 24 February 2017.

Peace Corps Speaker event- Throwback Edition!

February 9th, 2017 in GH Events

Peace Corps Volunteers have been going overseas for 55 years.  What was it like to serve in a far-away land before internet blogs and video calls? Come hear from two BU SPH Faculty,  Dr. Lisa Messersmith & Dr. Bob Horsburgh, share about their Peace Corps Service back in the day!

In Burkina Faso, LISA MESSERSMITH taught English, and helped with agricultural projects to improve millet and sorghum cultivation. She served during the Reagan era, and finished her Peace Corps service after the government of Burkina Faso stopped accepting new Peace Corps volunteers as a result of the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya. Lisa will talk about the experiences that led her to pursue public health, and may relate the story of dislocating both of her elbows. 

BOB HORSBURG served in Iran from 1969-1972 as a city planner with the Ministry of the Interior. Bob lived with medical missionaries, which inspired him to pursue medicine. Bob is one of the few volunteers to have served in Iran, as Peace Corps program ended in Iran in 1976. During his time he received national news only every three months and rode a camel.

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, Feb 22, from 1-2pm, in Crosstown, CT305

All are welcome to come an learn what it is like to serve in Peace Corps.

Please RSVP so that we can accordingly:
https://www.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=d50866c4facc4702aab26cccbda28e47 

I hope to see you there.  (You are welcome to come a little late or depart early given your class schedule.)

Best,

Joe

Joseph S. Anzalone, MPH

Senior Manager, Academic Program

RPCV/Liberia, ’87-90, Health Volunteer