Written by Lindsey Kaufman, BA candidate in Anthropology: Global Health & Environment at Washington University in St. Louis and participant in the 2021 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program
The past two months have been an absolute whirlwind for starting and finishing research with a new team and project. However, with the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program – Public and Global Health Track, it has been incredibly rewarding. This summer, I have gotten to work with an exceptionally welcoming and talented team as well as engage in research and pursue my own intellectual interests. With Dr. Jean Hunleth, I have been working on a project about the supportive care needs of bedside caregivers in a pediatric hospital in Zambia.
When I joined Dr. Hunleth’s research team, I was immediately considered a valuable member of the team. All of the existing team members encouraged my input and always made time to provide guidance and feedback on my work. Their investment into my success helped me get the most out my time in the lab and create more meaningful work. The team-based setting of this research was an especially valuable learning opportunity because I was able to sit in on conversations that gave me deeper insight into the research process and our project even when the specific topic wasn’t within the scope of my research for this summer.
While the separation of the team across multiple continents can be tricky for collaboration, it also worked to create a balanced perspective for the research. Over the course of working on this project, I have learned a lot about the local context and current environment in one pediatric hospital, which was extremely important for working with ethnographic work. In addition, this project strengthened my research skills, especially with data analysis. The process of turning hundreds of pages of qualitative data into a condensed report of themes and results is no longer an abstract idea but a realistic pursuit with several predictable stages in between. Within my short time in Dr. Hunleth’s lab, I have learned how to code ethnographic data, export and review individual codes, find themes, and draft results for a report to the hospital where the interviews were conducted.
I am consistently surprised when I reflect on all that has happened this summer. In addition to making long-term relationships with the other members of the research team and gaining research experience that will guide me long into the future, I have been exposed to a wide variety of current public health topics through the extensive seminar series of the program. Alongside a wonderful cohort of other students with similar interests, I have enjoyed diving into issues from community engagement in health equity to the effects of climate change on health.