Lydia Altai, a third-year integrative physiology major at the University of Colorado Boulder, recently completed a summer pre-undergraduate internship at ACCORDS’ Child and Family Health Prevention Research Center (PRC).
“I chose the Prevention Research Center because I was interested in pediatrics and public health, and it ended up being a great fit,” Altaie said.
Through the Office of Educational Outreach and Pathways Initiatives, the Undergraduate Health Sciences Program (UPP) is designed to encourage, promote, and train the next generation of clinicians and scientists from underrepresented backgrounds.
UPP provides underrepresented students with the tools and opportunities to succeed professionally and academically and reach their desired careers.
“We are honored that Lydia chose us and feel that her exposure to community prevention programs and public health was important to her training as she continues to work as a health care professional,” said Carol Franco Rowe, MA, program manager at PRC and one of Altaie’s summer mentors.
Inspiration for providing quality care
Altaie aims to be a pediatrician and has a minor in business leadership and certification in care, health, resilience and public health.
“I was aiming to go to medical school and always wanted to be a paediatrician and work with children. I got qualified in international public health and developed an interest in community health after a trip back to Ethiopia for my 15th birthday,” Altaie says.
During the visit, her 3-year-old cousin fell ill and the family spent time searching from place to place to find appropriate medical care.
“Because I was born here and grew up here, I saw how difficult it is to find decent health care and how blessed we are. Even if you come from a socio-economically disadvantaged background, it's so much better here than it was over there,” Altaie said.
That experience, about five years ago, piqued her interest in one day returning to Ethiopia to care for children there.
“I would like to become a pediatrician, work here for a while and eventually have a non-profit clinic in Ethiopia where I can do this work,” Altaie said.
Experiential learning
With about 20 participants in this year’s class, UPP includes Saturday academies throughout the school year and a summer internship. During the first week of summer, the class toured the CU Anschutz Medical Campus through the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, the School of Nursing and other departments and divisions on campus.
After learning about the different programs, students were placed in a variety of settings, including clinics, wet lab research, and health services research in ACCORDS.
“I had no research experience or knowledge before, so it wasn't a field I was particularly interested in,” Altai said. “It gave me a new perspective on research, and it was a very interesting and valuable experience for me. I'm glad it happened in this way.”
Through this program, students will gain a deeper understanding of current health disparities, health policy, and social justice issues impacting health equity and prepare the next generation of culturally responsive health care providers.
Altaye conducted a literature review and environmental survey on centralized intake and referral systems, accompanied Mandy Allison, MAEd, MD, MSPH, professor of pediatrics and PRC director at ACCORDS, in her role as a pediatric primary care provider, and observed nurses during their visits to Nurse Family Partnerships.
The Prevention Research Center is focused on interventions early in life with the goal of improving outcomes for mothers, babies, families and communities. One of the programs that supports this effort is the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), a national evidence-based program created by David Olds, M.D., who is also the founding director of the Prevention Research Center.
“We referred Lydia to the Weld County NFP team because we felt it was important for her to know what prevention and evidence-based programs look like in the field,” Franco Rowe said. “She will be going into the medical field and meeting these families in clinical settings, and we wanted her to see the impact of public health and prevention programs that support families outside of clinical settings.”
“The most memorable part of my internship was accompanying the NFP on their home visits. Although I wanted to work in public health overseas, this internship gave me a different perspective on public health here,” Altaie said.
Encouraging researchers and clinicians
ACCORDS' focus is to train researchers in outcomes and health services research and provide mentorship to develop early career researchers. Channing Tate, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine and ACCORDS investigator, facilitated the internship opportunity.
Franco-Lowe and Allison were excited about the opportunity to create a space for interns that aligns with PRC’s equity goals: They say that by engaging clinicians in community prevention programs, they can develop well-rounded scholars, researchers, and clinicians.
“The reason we went into this field and worked in academia is because we want to support other people who are interested in research and want to be mentored,” Franco-Lou says. “On a very personal level, as a woman of color, I also want to support and encourage other young women of color. I'm so grateful to know that we were able to give Lydia a space to learn and grow and expose her to things that she would not have been able to see on a purely clinical course.”
Altai has returned to class at the University of Colorado Boulder, working as a phlebotomist and anatomy assistant, while also volunteering as a care coordinator at the DAWN Clinic, where she performs socioeconomic screenings to ensure patients without insurance or social security receive the care and resources they need. The work aligns with the type of doctor she wants to be, and she's enthusiastic about it. She's already looking forward to next summer when she'll take the MCAT before applying to medical school, and is considering another research experience.
“Carol and Dr. Allison were amazing mentors and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them,” Altai said. “It's such a welcoming environment. It can be really intimidating to walk into a space, especially as a person of color, but I felt comfortable from the get-go. I would definitely recommend them to other students who get to work with them and to ACCORDS in general.”
