Graduate Student Internship Program

2008 Catalog of Internship Opportunities

This internship has been filled.

Adolescent Fact Sheet Development PRAMS Data Analysis

Program: Maternal and Child Health Assessment Section
Department of Health, Olympia, WA
Skill Area: Data Analysis and Monitoring

Agency Information

The internship project will be housed in the Maternal Child Health (MCH) section of Community and Family Health, Washington State Department of Health (DOH). The MCH Program works to promote an environment that supports and encourages the optimal health of all women of childbearing age, infants, children, adolescents and their families. Maternal and Child Health has five major program areas: Children with Special Health Care Needs, Child and Adolescent Health, Maternal and Infant Health, Genetics, and Immunizations. The intern will be located within the MCH Assessment Section, which provides assessment services to all four areas. The primary project supervisor will be Cathy Wasserman, manager of the MCH Assessment Unit at the Washington State Department of Health.

The intern will choose between the 2 internships: A) Adolescent Fact Sheet Development B) PRAMS Data Analysis.

Purpose, goals, and objectives of internship

Project A: Adolescent Fact Sheet Development: Updating Adolescent Health Fact Sheets
Purpose: The purpose of this component is to provide updated data and information for DOH’s Teen Health Fact Sheets which address key issues that adolescents face and target families, health providers, and teens. Topic areas for the 17 Fact Sheets include suicide and depression, physical health and development, drug and alcohol use, eating disorders, sexual health and others. The fact sheets include both data and interventions and resources and were last updated in 2002. The fact sheets are available at: http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/adolescenthealth.htm A primary data source for the fact sheets is the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey (HYS), which is a comprehensive school-based survey last implemented in 2006. This survey of 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th graders focuses on health-risk behaviors related to death and injury such as unintentional and intentional injury behaviors, smoking, and substance use as well as risk and protective factors. Data from 2006 will be available in Spring 2007.
Goals: Update 5-10 Teen Health Fact Sheets
Objectives:

1. Analyze and interpret data on the health status and health behaviors of Washington state adolescents, using multiple data sources including the Healthy Youth Survey.
2. Work with adolescent program staff to develop messages for teens, families and providers for Teen health Fact Sheets.

Project B: PRAMS Data Analysis Utilizing PRAMS data to improve the health of mothers and infants in Washington State.
This project will have two components:

1. PRAMS survey non-response bias analysis
   Purpose: The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitory System (PRAMS) survey is joint research project with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is an on-going survey of women who have recently given birth. PRAMS collects information on maternal attitudes, experiences, and behaviors before, during, and after pregnancy. The purpose of PRAMS is to improve the health of mothers and infants. Recently, several states, including Washington, have seen a significant decline in response rates, particularly among American Indian and African American women. Due to these declining response rates, it is important to evaluate potential biases associated with non-response, as well as to understand how representative our sample is of Washington births. Additionally, we hope to be able to use the results of a bias analysis to work with partners around the state to increase response rates, particularly among women who have historically been hard to reach.
   Goals: Complete a bias analysis of PRAMS Phase 5 (2004 to 2006).
   Objectives:
   1. Develop an analysis plan.
   2. Conduct univariate analyses to understand potential differences between responders and nonresponders.
   3. Examine predictors of non-response using logistic regression.
   4. Summarize results in a report and present results to the PRAMS Coordinating Committee.
2. Data Report: Evaluation of maternal and infant morbidity in Washington
   Purpose: The purpose of this component of the proposed internship is to utilize data from Washington PRAMS and the birth certificate to analyze factors associated with maternal and infant morbidity. Potential analyses include an evaluation of factors associated with maternal morbidities during pregnancy, intimate partner violence, preterm birth, infant sleep position, post-partum depression, and obesity and diabetes during pregnancy. The analysis will be utilized by the Maternal and Child Health Program to help guide program and policy decision making.
   Goals: Complete one in-depth data report on an MCH priority issue
   Objectives:
   1. Work with Maternal and Child Health Assessment and Maternal and Infant Health to identify a priority issue for an MCH data report.
   2. Conduct a literature review and complete a multivariate analysis looking at adverse maternal or infant outcomes.
   3. Summarize and present results in a short data report.

Data or analytic tasks and activities

Project A: Adolescent Fact Sheet Development
The adolescent fact sheets project requires the development of an analytic plan and the analysis and interpretation of data from multiple sources, including the Healthy Youth survey, death certificate data, and hospitalization data. The intern will update at least 5 Teen Health Fact Sheets.

Project B: PRAMS Data Analysis
This project will involve the development of an analytic plan and the analysis and
interpretation of data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey and vital statistics. This project will involve descriptive analysis (chi-square, t-tests, etc.) and logistic regression analysis to identify predictors of non-response for the bias analysis. Additional analyses will also utilize logistic regression to identify factors associated with maternal and infant morbidity. The results of the projects will be presented in a written summary or report, and an oral presentation to DOH staff.

Data or analytic skills required

Ability to analyze and interpret data.
Graduate classes in epidemiology and statistics,
Basic skills in analytic software.
Software skills should include working with word processing, spreadsheets (like Microsoft
Word and Excel) and working with statistical software such as Stata

Supervisors

Project A: Adolescent Fact Sheet Development
The primary supervisor on this project will be Cathy Wasserman, PhD. Dr. Wasserman is an epidemiologist and former manager of the Maternal and Child Health Assessment Section. She has experience analyzing and interpreting vital statistics, birth defects surveillance and hospitalization data and developing reports to inform policy and program development. Dr. Wasserman has mentored staff, graduate student interns, and a CDC/CSTE fellow. The secondary supervisor will be Diane Pilkey, RN MPH from the Assessment Section of the Washington State Department of Health Office of Maternal and Child Health. Ms. Pilkey is a graduate of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Prevention Service (PHPS). She has experience analyzing birth and death data, and survey data involving complex samples designs such as the Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) and the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey (PRAMS). Ms Pilkey is currently coordinating the assessment activities of the Washington State Healthy Youth Survey.

Project B: PRAMS Data Analysis
The primary supervisor on this project will be Cathy Wasserman, PhD. Dr. Wasserman is an epidemiologist and former manager of the Maternal and Child Health Assessment Section. She has experience analyzing and interpreting vital statistics, birth defects surveillance and hospitalization data and developing reports to inform policy and program development. Dr. Wasserman has mentored staff, graduate student interns, and a CDC/CSTE fellow. The secondary supervisor on this project will be Katie Hutchinson, PhD, MSPH. Dr. Hutchinson is a CDC/CSTE fellow in the Maternal and Child Health Assessment Section. She received her Master’s degree in Epidemiology from Emory University and her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Hutchinson has experience with analyzing and interpretation of complex survey data, such as PRAMS, and vital records data. Dr. Hutchinson also works with the Birth Defects Surveillance System, and has experience with cluster investigations, evaluation, and survey development.

Internship begins

We are flexible on this; whatever works best for the intern.

Housing

There are many apartment complexes and housing options in Olympia and we can provide information to the intern.

Transportation

The worksite is accessible via public transportation.