Saffanat Sumra
Planning and Evaluation of Patient Support Corps Internships in Population Health
In the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, I was one of the 20 student interns of the Patient Support Corps program who served as Healthcare Navigators for a COVID-19 Hotline at the UCSF Office of Population Health and Accountable Care (OPHAC). This summer, I will continue working with clinical programs at OPHAC to identify areas where undergraduate students could help with case-finding and coaching patients with chronic health conditions. Part of my work would entail establishing relationships/pipelines for the recruitment and training of students from underrepresented backgrounds. This involves conducting an environmental scan of pre-health programs featuring students from underrepresented minorities, and developing a recruitment design to increase their involvement in our program. Throughout this research project, I would also help lay the foundation for outlining different OPHAC roles and developing task descriptions. I will document my contributions as well as any training materials which will serve as the basis for the Patient Support Corps’ Fall 2021 URAP learning contracts.
Message To Sponsor
To the donors, Thank you so much for letting me pursue my passion for population health and medicine through this URAP summer award. This summer fellowship has been one of the most insightful research experiences I have had, and I have been able to interact with and positively contribute to the lives of so many patients, none of which would've been possible without your donation and support. I truly appreciate your guidance, thank you so much!