UCLA School of Public Health Field Studies Program


Community Health Sciences

Field Placement (three locations):

  1. Los Angeles County Health Department, Sexually Transmitted Disease Program
  2. UCLA, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology
  3. Koryo Health Foundation Community Clinic (KHFCC)

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Preceptor: Pamina M. Gorbach, MHS, Dr.PH (UCLA School of Public Health)
Supervisors:Susan Walker, MPH, CHES, Cielo Fernandez-Ortega, MS, Bita Amani, MPH
Student Name: Angela Heejin Shin
Year: 2003

Sentinel Surveillance for Cervical Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection and The Experiences With HPV Testing Among Women in the United States:
A Community Clinic in Koreatown as a Research Study Site

My internship placement was to work with three entities, LA County Health Department, UCLA, and the Koryo Helath Foundation Community Clinic, in designing, implementing, and evaluating a study protocol that would be culturally and linguistically competent for a community clinic, which served a primarily Korean/Korean-American clientele. The study protocol was needed for a two-part CDC funded national Human Papillomavirus (HPV) descriptive and exploratory study.

Part A of the study is titled “HPV Sentinel Surveillance System (HSS)” with Dr. Peter Kerndt (Director of LA County STD Program) as the principal investigator. The main objective of Part A is to determine the prevalence and monitor the trends of HPV among women of different ages, race/ethnicities and risk groups. Part B is “The Experiences with HPV Testing Study”, with Dr. Pamina Gorbach (UCLA, School of Public Health) and Dr. Kerndt as principal investigators. Part B involves qualitative research through interviews with the objective to find out how women and their partners feel about their HPV status in order to formulate messages to help others learn about HPV. The study has four participating clinics in LA County (Koryo Health Foundation Community Clinic, Maternal Child Adolescent Clinic, Women’s Health Care Clinic at Harbor/UCLA Hospital, South Public Health Center STD Clinic).

The objectives of my project at the Koryo Health Foundation Community Clinic were: 1) conduct formative research in order to assess the resources and capabilities of the clinic to be involved in a research study, 2) design an appropriate study protocol and implement it, 3) conduct process monitoring and data collection, and 4) evaluate the status of the study at the clinic for future sustainability.

 

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