Field Placement: Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles
Location : Los Angeles, CA
Preceptor: Jonathan Parfrey
Student Name: Michela Woodbridge
Year: 2002

I completed my internship at Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles (PSR-LA). PSR-LA's mission is to reduce violence and its causes, preserve a sustainable environment, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction. PSR-LA's main activities involve advocacy work and education of medical professionals and the general community. My preceptor was Jonathan Parfrey, the Executive Director of PSR-LA.

The objective of my internship at PSR-LA was to address the issue of firearm violence in Los Angeles through the development of educational materials and resources for the medical community and the general public. By developing these materials, I attempted to increase awareness of the problem and understanding of opportunities for prevention.

My specific activities involved updating agency information, working on a grand rounds training for physicians, assisting in writing a grant for expansion of PSR-LA's gun violence activities, and researching current medical interventions for firearm violence. Updating agency information involved researching medical literature and revising PSR-LA's on-line materials and hospital contact database. From the research of medical literature, I developed fact sheets on gun violence, abstracts summarizing the most relevant literature, recommendations for the prevention of gun violence, and other educational materials. Using these materials, I updated the gun violence section of PSR-LA's website. For the grand rounds presentation, I designed a slideshow, Preventing Death and Injury From Firearms: What Physicians Can Do, to be presented at grand rounds trainings and medical student conferences. I also contacted health educators at hospitals to set up grand rounds trainings for physicians and physicians to serve as presenters during these trainings. I also assisted my preceptor in writing the California Wellness Foundation grant proposal for funding of firearm violence prevention activities. California Wellness Foundation accepted the proposal and the funding provided by them will allow PSR-LA to hire a staff member dedicated solely to firearm violence prevention activities. Finally, I researched information on hospital interventions to reduce firearm violence. From this information, I assembled a review of the materials provided to patients during the interventions. The information has been compiled in a booklet to be used as a future reference of intervention materials.

From my experience at PSR-LA, I learned valuable knowledge about public health practice and firearm violence prevention. The experience helped to further my research, grant development, and communication skills.

Back to CHS Field Studies Placement Index | Back to CHS Field Studies | Back to Field Studies Home