2020 UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic Internship/Fellowship
Sponsored by the UConn Honor’s Program, El Instituto: Latina/o, Caribbean & Latin American Studies, CT Area Health Education Center & the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic
The UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic fellowship is a competitive award that allows students with an interest in migration studies and/or medicine to spend part of the summer working with a team of UConn medical professionals to provide services to migrant farmworkers. It includes direct service as well as the opportunity to assist in a research study. Honors students who speak Spanish and whose undergraduate research would be enhanced by work with migrant populations will be given preference.
This fellowship is complemented by an internship that allows the fellow to train for the clinic in the late spring, and contribute to the fall course LLAS/HIST 1570 Migrant Workers. The fellowship during the summer comes with a stipend of $1,000 to cover traveling expenses.
Deadline for letter of interest: Monday, March 23rd, 5pm to anne.gebelein@uconn.edu
Brief Description:
The UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic fellowship is a competitive award that allows a maximum of two students with an interest in migration studies and/or medicine to spend part of the summer and fall providing administrative, research and clinic support to the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinics.
Required and Preferred Qualifications:
Requirements: Reliable vehicle to drive to and from clinics. Ability to use vehicle to transport supplies and other volunteers on scheduled clinic nights. Work directly with co-fellow on a daily basis to accomplish tasks listed above.
Preferences: Honors students whose undergraduate research would be enhanced by the opportunity; who have an interest working in a medical setting and/or with migrant populations; Spanish speakers.
Benefits for Selected Applicants:
- The internship will carry 2 credits, assigned in the fall; fellows sign up for LLAS 4212 with Dr. Gebelein of El Instituto.
- The fellowship during the summer comes with a stipend of $1,000 to cover traveling expenses to and from the UConn Health Center to clinics across CT.
- Building resume to include the following experiences:
- Spring through Fall 2020 internship at CT Area Health Education Center with the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic as an administrative coordinator for trainings and “vitals station volunteers”
- Fellowship during the summer of 2020 - with the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic, provided clinical trainings and volunteer supervision at UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic vitals station. Contributed to team of researcher doing intervention study with migrant and seasonal farm workers.
- Fall 2020 with El Instituto Latina/o, Caribbean & Latin American Studies and the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic
- Guest speaker/trainer during Dr. Gebelein’s undergraduate course LLAS/HIST 1570
- Contribute a reflection piece to Fall 2020 El Instituto newsletter
Detailed Information About the Organization:
Full Organization Information: UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic, c/o CT Area Health Education Center at UConn Health, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-2928,
El Instituto Contact: Anne Gebelein, PhD, Associate Director, El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies (anne.gebelein@uconn.edu, 860-436-8030)
UConn Health Center/CT AHEC/UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic Contact: Shannon McClure, Program Coordinator, UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinic, CT Area Health Education Center (smcclure@uchc.edu, 860-679-4223)
Industry/Agency Description: The UConn and Connecticut Area Health Education Program (CT AHEC) developed the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinics to provide free primary health care, health education, and increased access to quality, community-based, primary health care services to migrant and seasonal farm worker populations in Connecticut.
Connecticut hosts 7,000-20,000 migrant farm workers annually. This population is part of the poorest group in the United States with the highest rate of occupational injury and illness with little or no access to health care. To address this issue, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Connecticut Area Health Education Program (CT AHEC) developed the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinics which provide free primary health care, health education, and increased access to quality, community-based, primary health care services to migrant and seasonal farm worker populations in Connecticut. For more information visit http://www.publichealth.uconn.edu/migrant-farm-worker-clinics.html
Application Specifics:
1. Send a one page statement indicating how this experience would help further the applicant’s academic and/or professional goals to Anne Gebelein, PhD, Associate Director, El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean and Latin American Studies (anne.gebelein@uconn.edu) The deadline is 5pm on Monday, March 23, 2020.
2. Complete CT AHEC participant application at: https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/migrant-farm-worker-clinics/uconn-migrant-farm-worker-clinic-application/
If accepted, please note:
Immediate after being accepted, each fellow must connect with co-fellow to find mutually agreeable dates/times to propose to:
1. The clinic coordinator at UConn Health, CT AHEC office in Farmington, Shannon McClure
2. Dr. Anne Gebelein at El Instituto
3. Mark calendar to attend the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Symposium on Tuesday, June 23rd from 8:30-3:30 at UConn Health, Massey Auditorium. During this session, assist with clinical training session.
Learning Experiences Offered by the Organization:
Fellows will be trained to assist patients and clinical volunteers. The clinics will run Tuesday through Thursday evenings. Learning goals include increased cultural competency, health literacy and understanding of social justice issues in medicine. Because of first-hand knowledge, fellows will be able to articulate:
- Barriers to health care faced by an uninsured population and by a migrant population
- Health care and labor issues among Jamaican, Mexican, Central and South American migrant laborers
- Occupational hazards and preventive measures for farm workers working in Connecticut orchards, berry farms and tobacco fields
- Common health issues for farm workers and treatment including medications that are distributed during the clinics
- Improved medical Spanish vocabulary by translating and speaking to patients at the farms (if applicable)
- Training methods for new volunteers on how to take a focused medical encounter, take vital signs, and present to the attending.
Spring Internship (Required training experience for Fellows)
Estimated hours of commitment: about 30 hours over 2 months, April - May
Brief Description: The fellowship is complemented by a required internship this spring which will allows the fellow(s) to train directly about the administrative roles with experienced clinic manager of 15+ years from the CT Area Health Education Center (AHEC). The spring trainings will be at UConn Health in Farmington and must occur at mutually agreeable times for trainer, Shannon McClure and both fellows.
During these trainings, we will review goals, divide roles and responsibilities, cross train on systems and start work immediately to identify accepted and rejected candidates then setting up a master schedule in a shared drive. Send schedule to students by the first of each month.
Summer Fellowship
Summer Fellowship (for $1,000 stipend): Each fellow is eligible for a $500 stipend through UConn Honors/El Instituto, and $500 from CT AHEC for a total of $1,000.
Estimated hours of commitment: 60 hours over 3 months
Brief Description: During the summer, the fellowship truly takes shape as fellows build on their administrative roles (listed above), start shadowing and continuing to build confidence in clinical skills, fulfill leadership roles and training others at the clinics, and contribute to a longitudinal research study with migrant farm workers.
Administrative Roles: During this internship, each fellow will select one of the administrative roles and responsibilities identified above to be carried out from April through mid-October:
1. Vitals Station Scheduler: One of the fellows will be the group scheduler for a cohort of volunteers who will staff the ‘Vitals Station’ during the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Clinics. Work with the Volunteer Training Scheduler (below) to ensure that volunteers are trained before being scheduled to volunteer at clinics.
2. Volunteer Training Coordinator: One of the fellows will be responsible for all required correspondence for the “New Volunteer Trainings.” These trainings are required for some groups and optional for other clinic volunteers. Theses trainings are offered over the course of the summer and fall typically on Monday afternoons from 12-4 p.m. (actual class time 1-3 p.m.) at UConn Health in Classroom B9 and will be led by medical student coordinators and other vitals station leads (including fellows) on a rotating basis. Periodically (once a week recommended) this fellow should restock and reorganize the training bins in the CT AHEC office.
Clinical Roles: Fellows will be assigned to shadow and train with medical students so that by the end of the summer, fellow should feel confident in the didactic training and clinical training pieces as they will be responsible for conducting a training during Dr. Gebelein’s fall class independently (no medical students available to help).
The clinical training elements will include hands-on training for taking specific screening tests used at the vitals station during our clinics. These include blood pressure, blood glucose, respiratory rate and heart rate. After training directly with the medical students, fellows are encouraged to keep training or self-train using medical equipment from CT AHEC until they feel proficient. Prior to teaching at the trainings, Fellows must be screen/tested by Shannon McClure to ensure that all universal precautions are being met and taught to others. Fellows must be proficient so that they can directly train others before the clinic as well as to oversee, troubleshoot and correct volunteers during clinics so that universal precautions are being met for the safety of our patients and volunteers.
Research Roles: Over the summer, both fellows will assist in a research project with Shannon McClure (TBD).
Fall Roles/Responsibilities:
Fall Internship Description: Fellows will split 8 fall clinics to cover the Vitals Station leadership needs, will continue administrative responsibilities listed above as Vitals Station scheduler and Volunteer Training coordinator, will contribute to Dr. Gebelein’s course by providing a didactic and clinical training and will contribute to the El Instituto Newletter with a reflection piece.
Estimated hours of fall commitment: 50 hours over 3 months, with the bulk of the hours in August and September, some hours in October.
Administrative Roles:
- By August 1, fellows must
- Be tested by Shannon McClure to ensure they are ready to take over as trainers and Vitals Station coordinators
- Notify Shannon McClure how the 8 Wednesday clinics have been divided between the two fellows (need a minimum of one fellow at each clinic serving as the primary Vitals Station lead)
- Coordinator scheduler:
- Vitals Station Scheduler: Set up fall schedule for undergraduate, post baccalaureate and other students applying to health profession schools. Send schedule to volunteers by August 1st. Update the shared Master Schedule weekly in google.docs.
- Volunteer Training Coordinator: Continue to work with the Vitals Station scheduler to ensure that volunteers are trained before being scheduled to volunteer at clinics, will send weekly reminders prior to trainings, restock and reorganize the training bins in CT AHEC office, transport bins to Storrs for the training the fellows will provide during Dr. Gebelein’s fall class, collect sign in sheets and email to Shannon McClure immediately after training, return supplies to CT AHEC from Storrs, and restock training bins for the 2020 season.
Clinical roles:
- Fellows will co-present the didactic and clinical training for new volunteers during Dr. Gebelein’s LLAS/HIST 1570 course during the first week of September in the evening on the Storrs campus (date/time/location TBD)
- In preparation of the fall clinics, each fellow is responsible for organizing the carpool/caravan from Storrs and during the clinic for Dr. Gebelein’s students
- During each of the 4 fall clinics, each fellow is responsible for the sole oversight of the Vitals Station (e.g. all patient paperwork, oversight of volunteers, ensuring clinical and safety protocol being met, patient flow, etc.)
Reflection: Each fellow to contribute an article to the El Instituto fall newsletter which will serve as a reflection for the MFW fellowship (deadline TBD by Dr. Gebelein).
This internship/fellowship is supported by funds from the UConn Honors Program endowment, El Instituto, and CT AHEC.
For more information, contact: El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean, and Latin American Studies at 860-486-3997, elinstituto@uconn.edu